Harry Potter and the Game of Mind Quidditch
by hedwig-owlgirl
Summary: A girl who screams at the sight of Harry's scar moves across the street from the Dursleys...Harry falls in love with her...other stuff happens. May exceed to PG or PG 13 rating, depending on how my imagination decides to be that day!!!!


Chapter One  
  
  
  
Bangbangbang! Someone was pounding on Harry Potter's bedroom door. Harry put on his round glasses and looked at his luminous alarm clock. It read 6:15 a.m. He groggily sat up, but before he could say "Come in" or "Just a minute", the door flew open, and in came Harry's Aunt Petunia. "What is it?" Harry asked. She glared at him and took in a deep breath, like she always did whenever he asked her a question. "You're supposed to be fixing up the garden today, don't you remember? Now get a move on, because I want you to have a good deal done by lunch time." With that, Aunt Petunia left the room and shut the door loudly. Harry's cousin Dudley gave a loud grunt in the bedroom down the hall. Harry sighed and got out of bed. He pulled on a muscle shirt, a pair of shorts, socks, and sneakers. Harry looked at his reflection. He saw a skinny fifteen-year- old boy looking back. His bright green eyes shone like emeralds, and his black hair looked as messy as it always did. Under the messy hair, on his forehead, was a thin, lightning bolt shaped scar. He also noticed he was getting a darker shadow on his chin and upper lip. "Oh, great," he thought. "I'll need to start shaving soon." Although it seemed awful to Harry, he couldn't help but think about how grown-up he was getting to be. He felt like he wanted to stay young and be a teenager, but he also wanted to grow up and be a man. With a sigh, Harry went out the door and down the stairs to the kitchen, where a small bowl of oatmeal and half a grapefruit lay on the table. Harry ate his meager breakfast and went outside. He could see up into the bathroom from outside, and saw his large Uncle Vernon stumbling in to use the toilet. Harry looked away and grabbed the hose. He watered the garden so the flowers could drink and the ground would be soft- he was going to start by pulling up weeds. Harry put on a pair of garden gloves and kneeled on the ground. He pulled up one dandelion after another, sometimes needing to use a trowel to dig out the roots. Harry had to clean up the appearance of the garden whenever Aunt Petunia felt there was one too many weeds, or if the green bench needed to be painted white, or when the stone wall needed to be put back into order, or whatever else she could think of. This always happened every two weeks, and Harry had finally gotten some muscles. Today, Harry had to do all that he had done before, plus put down more mulch, stain the wooden table and chairs, plant new flowers, put in some new garden gnomes, prune the roses, wash the car, whitewash the fence... Harry wished that his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley would come rescue him from the Dursleys and stay at one of their houses (more preferably Ron's because he had stayed there twice before, and he had never been to Hermione's house anyway). How he longed to play Quidditch with Ron and how he wished that instead of doing ordinary garden chores, he could rid Rons' mother's garden of the real, potato-shaped gnomes. And though this sounds strange, it is true. Harry was not an ordinary boy. He was a wizard, a wizard in training having just experienced the most terrifying thing in his life. His arch enemy, Voldemort, had risen back to power after having disappeared for fourteen years. It was Voldemort who had killed Harry's parents when he was one year old on Halloween. When Voldemort had tried to kill Harry, the third and worst Unforgivable Curse (The Killing Curse; Avada Kedavra) had rebounded on him. Harry was taken to the Dursleys, his horrible Aunt and Uncle and cousin, who were Muggles (people who have no magical blood in them). Although Voldemort did not die, he fled, most of his magical powers gone. The only mark Voldemort left on Harry was the thin, lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead. And just a few weeks ago, Harry had won the Triwizard Tournament at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He had gotten through the maze leading to the Triwizard cup; at the same time did one of his three competitors, Cedric Diggory. As they were both from Hogwarts, they drew together, but upon touching the Cup, they were magically transported to a graveyard- the Cup had been turned into a Portkey. Voldemort's servant, Peter Pettigrew (also known by the name Wormtail) immediately killed Cedric. Harry had witnessed Voldemort's rebirth, and then, he dueled with Voldemort. Both Harry's and Voldemort's wands had a phoenix feather in its core, from the same bird, whose name was Fawkes. Fawkes belonged to Professor Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts. When Harry attempted to disarm Voldemort and Voldemort to kill Harry, the magic from their wands attached. Because the wands were "brothers," they did not work properly against each other. This was called "Priori Incantatem." Images of Cedric, an elderly Muggle man named Frank Bryce, a woman named Bertha Jorkins, and Harry's parents, Lily and James Potter, emerged from the tip of Voldemort's wand. Cedric's form had asked Harry to take his body back to his parents, and when Harry broke the bond, he did so. Harry summoned the Cup magically and returned to Hogwarts. Then, Harry learned that one of his teachers, Professor (Mad-Eye) Moody, was not really who he seemed to be. He was an impostor by the name of Barty Crouch Jr., who was believed to be dead. He had been drinking a magical potion all year called the Polyjuice Potion, which allowed a person to turn into another person- as long as they had a bit of the person they wished to become, along with the other proper ingredients. The real Moody had been locked in a trunk all year long. Crouch had his soul sucked out by a dementor, one of the most horrible creatures on Earth. Dementors were hooded zombie-like creatures that lived on the souls of people. They brought gloom to any area. Harry would grow weak around one, as they brought back horrors of his past. But luckily, he had been taught to protect himself from them by a professor. Harry was deeply shaken by the most recent events and was scared that Voldemort would be coming after him, but nothing had happened since his trip back to Platform 9 3/4- unless you counted Hermione kissing Harry on the cheek, which she had never done before. Harry recalled the strange but wonderful feeling of her soft lips on his right cheek. He touched the exact spot where she had kissed him, and it felt strangely warm, like she had just kissed him a split second ago. Harry took in a breath recalling the ways she had shown a slight affection for him. In their first year, Hermione had thrown her arms around him sobbing, telling him to be careful, when they had been underneath the school, searching for a magical gem called the Sorcerer's Stone. In their third year, she had clutched his arm so tightly it had turned numb. Though it may have been out of fear, not love, it still counted. And when he had almost died falling fifty feet off of an airborne broomstick (courtesy of dementors that had been guarding the school coming onto the Quidditch grounds), Hermione had cried so hard that it was hard to tell if her eyes were bloodshot or if they were red balls of fire. Harry suddenly realized how much he liked her, but then told himself that he had a crush, Cho Chang, and that if Hermione and Harry started dating, this would give Harry's other nemesis, Draco Malfoy, along with his fellow house members of Slytherin a huge reason to tease him. Last year, a reporter named Rita Skeeter had written several lies about Harry crying about his parents in front of her, about Hermione being Harry's girlfriend but also seeing Viktor Krum, the Seeker of the Bulgaria Quidditch team (he had also competed in the Triwizard Tournament). None of this was entirely true, although Hermione was seeing Viktor Krum. They were currently a couple, despite the fact that Hermione was almost fifteen and Krum was eighteen or nineteen. Harry shook these thoughts from his mind. He concentrated on staining the wooden table that the Dursleys used to eat on when it was nice outside- as long as they could tear Dudley away from the television in the kitchen. This seldom happened, but when it did, the family got along a little bit better than normal at dinner. When Harry finally finished staining the table and all four chairs, he got up and stretched. Harry took five minutes of rest, then took off his shoes and gloves and walked into the house to have a glass of water. He could hear Dudley still snoring upstairs. The clock read eight o' clock a.m. Uncle Vernon would be coming downstairs to eat and then leave for work. There was bacon sizzling in a frying pan, and Harry looked after it to make sure it didn't burn- Uncle Vernon would explode if his breakfast was burned, and Aunt Petunia was nowhere in sight. Harry also started to make some coffee for Uncle Vernon. He was scrambling eggs when, at the same time, the toaster popped up with toast and Aunt Petunia walked in the room.  
  
"Why aren't you outside working?" she snapped angrily. "I came in to have a drink of water, and since you weren't here, I looked after the bacon, fixed some eggs, and put some coffee on the pot for Uncle Vernon," Harry said, scooping the bacon onto a plate. Aunt Petunia nodded as a sign of thanks as Uncle Vernon walked into the room. "Ah, I smell some perfectly cooked bacon and eggs!" He exclaimed, kissing his wife on the cheek. "And perfectly brewed coffee!" "Why thank you, dear!" Aunt Petunia said, gushing, taking all the credit of Harry's work, although she had done some of it herself. Harry didn't say anything. He put the toast on the plate and got out some jam and butter. Harry poured out the coffee and put it on the table. Uncle Vernon grunted as a thanks and as a morning greeting. Then Harry finally got to have his glass of water and he went back outside to work. An hour later, Harry had painted the garden bench, Uncle Vernon had left, and Dudley had finally risen out of bed. Harry took a minute to rest, and then he got up to set the new garden gnomes around the garden. "Aunt Petunia!" Harry called. "What?" she snapped back, stepping outside. "I need you to stay out here, I'm going to set the gnomes around," Harry answered. "I don't want to put them in the wrong place." "All right, just go and get them all while I finish loading the dishwasher," Aunt Petunia said. Harry went inside to get to the garage. The gnomes were inside Aunt Petunia's station wagon that she now used exclusively for gardening trips only. The rest of the time she drove her brand new little silver Jetta. Once in the garage, Harry opened the trunk of the wagon. There were about ten stone gnomes about the size of a one- year-old baby standing up, probably weighing ten pounds each. Harry opened up the garage door to the outside. As it slid open, Harry heard people talking. He looked across the street behind him. Their elderly neighbors, Marshall and Clara Winstead, were unloading luggage from their blue shiny mini-van. A girl wearing a white tank top and dark blue cotton shorts got out of the van. The girl looked about fourteen or fifteen. She picked up a birdcage with a cover over it. Harry thought, for a fleeting second, that he heard a owl hooting, but decided he must have heard his own pet snowy owl, Hedwig (in the magic world, witches and wizards use owls as mail postage). Harry looked at the girl. She had fair skin. The back of her left arm was burned from shoulder to wrist. The girl looked at the burn every so often and blew on it. The burn was a shiny, bright red and looked like it would leave a mark, a scar. So already this girl and Harry had something in common.... "Harry!" Aunt Petunia's shrill, loud voice came from around the garage door. The girl and the Winsteads looked over. "Oh, hello, Petunia, dear! And Harry! How nice to see you!" called Mrs. Winstead. Mr.Winstead smiled and waved. "Why, good morning, Clara and Marshall! Who is that lovely young girl?" Aunt Petunia called. As usual, she was poking into other people's business. The Winsteads abandoned the luggage and beckoned the girl to follow him. She had been staring fixedly at Harry the whole time. Aunt Petunia shook Mr.Winstead's hand and hugged Mrs.Winstead. "This is our granddaughter, Desirae. She's moving in with us," said Mrs. Winstead. "How lovely! Hello, dear. My name is Petunia Dursley," Aunt Petunia said, shaking hands with Desirae. Harry couldn't help but notice how attractive Desirae was- her eyes were a light blue-lavender. Desirae's face was a little round, like she was once more chubby but had lost weight. Her shirt came above her belly button, revealing a gold belly button ring with a red ruby dangling from it (Gryffindor colors, Harry noticed). She was also wearing a black band on her right ring finger. It looked to Harry like a mood ring, from what he had seen girls wearing in Muggle school. "Hi. It's nice to meet you, Petunia. Call me Rae," she said with a cute little smile on her face that made Harry's heart race a little. She had no English accent, and Harry wondered if she had moved here from America. It was a correct guess. "Rae lived in America- oh, what province?" asked her grandmother. "It's called a state. But I lived in Virginia," Rae said. "Oh, sorry dear. Her parents passed away last week." Clara Winstead continued. "Oh, how sad! Harry's parents passed away too. When he was about one. A policeman brought him to us. I'm his aunt," explained Aunt Petunia, motioning to Harry. Rae looked at Harry. He smiled, and Rae walked over. "Nice to meet..." she shook his hand, but then her eyes did an all too familiar flick to Harry's forehead. Rae screamed, then her face turned bright red. "Oh, so sorry...I um...well, nice meeting you both!" Rae ran back across the street, causing a car to screech to a halt to avoid hitting her. Rae grabbed the birdcage and ran into the house. "Now what on Earth was that about?" Marshall Winstead looked at Harry. Harry shrugged. Aunt Petunia was looking daggers at Harry. "Uh...I don't really know. Maybe she saw the gnomes over my shoulder and thought they were ugly," Harry said, stepping aside to show them the gnomes. Some of them did have ugly faces. The adults laughed, although Aunt Petunia's was high and false. Harry was never funny to her, except when he made a mistake. "Oh, I know what happened. She may have either bumped her burn, or that horrendous belly button ring snagged on her shorts and pulled on her skin," said Clara. Aunt Petunia nodded. "Most likely, I guess. How did she get that burn? I expect it must torture her a lot!" Aunt Petunia said. "Well, it's because her parents were-well, murdered," said Marshall. Aunt Petunia gasped. "Yes. It was last week. She had been sleeping upstairs, Rae said," Clara told them. Aunt Petunia gasped again. "Then the horrible monster came in to her room, and instead of killing her, he took her out to the garage. She kicked him away. The man got frustrated and poured gasoline on her arm. He threw a match on it and burned it. She screamed and kicked the car, and the car alarm went off. The car had been programmed so that it would alert the police. The murderer was angry, but didn't know that the car would alert the law. The man heard the sirens and disappeared. He had enough decency to put out the fire, but not before her arm has was burned third degree," Clara finished. Aunt Petunia had tears- actual real tears- in her eyes. "Oh, the poor, poor child!" she blubbered. "Yes. Rae will have a scar there," said Marshall. "Thank the Lord for aloe vera gel, it helps the pain on her arm." "My parents were murdered, too," Harry said quietly. All three of them looked at Harry. "I got a scar from it. Maybe that frightened her, because she knows she'll have a scar, too," Harry lifted up his bangs and showed them his lightening bolt scar. "Oh, yes. Poor Rae. She is always very sensitive, that may have affected her," said Clara gently, apparently alarmed about the fate of Harry's parents. There was an awkward silence. "Well, we must be going. We need to get Rae's things unloaded. It was nice talking to you again!" said Marshall. They said their good-byes. Once the Winsteads had taken some baggage inside, Aunt Petunia slapped Harry across the face. "Don't you ever...ever...do something like that...again!" she shouted. "You're supposed to stick to the story that they died in a car crash, and that's how you got that...that mark!" Aunt Petunia slapped him again and told him to bring out some of the gnomes. Harry stared maliciously after his aunt and shook a fist in her direction when she had left. Suddenly, he felt eyes on his back. He looked up at the Winstead house. A young face was in an upstairs window for a split second, and then it disappeared behind a lacy, white curtain. Rae had seen the whole thing.  
  
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After setting five gnomes around the garden, the Winsteads and Rae came out again to collect the rest of the luggage. Rae looked normal again, and waved to Harry, smiling. He waved back, feeling his face redden. "Have you taken a fancy to that American?" a loud, shrill voice said. Harry looked into the face of his still angry aunt. "No. Why?" "You blushed!" she shouted. Rae was watching. As soon as Aunt Petunia said "fancy" and "American" in the same sentence, Rae had looked over. "I was embarrassed about what happened when they were visiting. I was actually surprised when she waved at me, because I thought she hated me or something. I'm going to get that Santa Claus gnome, decide where you want it," Harry said so only she could hear. "DON'T TAKE THAT TONE WITH ME!" shouted Aunt Petunia. She slapped him so hard that Harry's glasses flew off his face. Harry picked them up, scowled at his wretched aunt, and ran to the garage. He sat down on the concrete floor in a corner and hugged his knees to his chest. Harry rested his arms on his knees, took off his glasses, and buried his face in his arms. Just then, he heard someone's feet coming to him. Great, Harry thought. She's coming back to slap me more. But the feet didn't sound like the penny loafers that Aunt Petunia usually wore. They sounded like...flip-flops. "Harry? Are you all right?" asked a kind, gentle voice. It was Rae. "Yeah, I'm fine...." Harry said to his knees. "It's okay to cry. I don't care," Rae said gently. "I wasn't crying," he said, looking up at her. "Oh my! She really slapped you hard, your face is terribly red..." Rae cried. She stroked his cheek gently with the back of her index finger. Rae was sitting on Harry's right side, so she was touching his right cheek. When her finger reached the spot where Hermione had kissed him, she stopped. She looked straight into Harry's eyes. Sapphire-amethyst against emerald. Harry suddenly felt a strange connection between the two of them. "That aunt of yours is a real witch," Rae said, looking away. "No, she's not she's a Mug- I mean, monster," Harry said. He had almost taken the statement literally. Harry had also started to call Aunt Petunia a Muggle, but stopped himself. Rae wasn't of magical blood, he remembered. "What were you about to say?" Rae asked curiously. "Nothing," Harry brushed it off quickly. Rae's eyes bored into Harry's again, like she really didn't believe him. Harry tried not to let the fact that he was lying show. She touched his scar, tracing the shape. He tried not to pull away. What is up with me? He thought. Why am I letting a stranger, let alone a girl, touch my face? But then he thought that it was fine. He trusted Rae. Rae's finger moved down his face and onto his chin. She stared at his face, studying it and taking her hand away. Then she smirked, but in a nice way, like she thought something was funny. "I see a shadow on your face. You'll need to start shaving..." Harry grimaced. "What makes you think I haven't already?" He asked her. "Your face is soft. If you had already started to shave, your face would feel bristly and rough," she replied, stroking his face again. Harry closed his eyes. Suddenly he realized that a groan was rising in his throat. Harry quickly surpressed it, breathing in through his nose deeply- although that wasn't the best choice, either. "Do you like that, Harry?" "What?" Harry flicked his eyes open. "I didn't say anything," Rae said, raising her eyebrows and taking her hand away. "You sure?" Harry could've sworn she'd asked him if he liked her touching his face. "Positive." "All right, then...." Harry looked into her eyes again, trying to get her to confess. But then he realized that he had also lied, so he broke their eye contact by looking out the garage. They were even now, he did hear her ask him that question. "Were you trying to make me confess, Harry?" Rae asked. "You did the same to me!" "Well, I'm very good at it..." "Ah, but I never confessed to saying anything!" "Well, now we're even." "Aha! So you did say something!" "Maybe I did...." Rae put on a mischievous smile. Harry returned it. He really liked this girl already, even more than Cho.... suddenly, he realized something. "Yes." "Hmm?" "My answer is yes," Harry said. Rae looked at him. She didn't know what he was talking about. Harry didn't, either. Rae looked down, and frowned, playing with the ruby on her bellybutton ring. "Harry?" "What?" "I'm sorry." "For what?" "Yelling and running away like that. I bumped this..." Rae used such a profane word that Harry nearly jumped. He had heard Ron say it- but out of a girl's mouth! "...burn and it hurt like h*ll. I get embarrassed easily...and..." Then Rae saw the look on Harry's face. "Ohmygosh, I'm so sorry, it slipped out, I used to talk like that around my friends...." Rae looked upset with herself, biting her lower lip and blubbering her apologies. "Hey, calm down, my friend Ron says it sometimes, I don't care," Harry said. Rae took in a deep breath and sighed, relieved. "And it's okay. I'm used to people screaming at me." "I wasn't screaming at you!" Rae looked at him in mock fury. "Well, it didn't affect me much..." Harry said. He looked at his watch. They had been sitting there talking for almost half an hour! "Oh, I have to go...I'm surprised Aunt Petunia didn't come looking for me already... I suppose telling me where to put those gnomes is too hard for her and she needs a break," Harry said. Rae giggled. "When I'm done unpacking, I'll come help you," Rae said. "It looks like you are going to be doing a lot of work in the garden...." her eyes strayed to the marigolds that Harry would need to plant. "...and did I have my own back in Virginia. I have a green thumb," she finished. Harry opened his mouth to protest. But Rae put a finger to his lips. "I'll come and apologize to your aunt for running off like that. I want to do something to make up for it, anyway... and maybe we can talk more," Rae said. Harry shrugged his shoulders. "All right," he said. "Just don't use that language when apologizing..." Rae laughed. Harry got up, then held out his hand to help her up. Rae took it, and Harry pulled her onto her feet rather quickly. Their chests bumped from the sudden pull, and Rae stumbled backwards. Harry grabbed her elbows and she grabbed his shoulders. He pulled her forwards, also a little too quickly. Their lips touched for a split nanosecond, but they pulled away. After an awkward moment of silence, Rae started laughing, so Harry did, too. "See ya," Rae said. "Bye," Harry replied. He watched her go, then picked up the Santa Claus gnome. He carried it into the garden. Aunt Petunia and Dudley walked out, Aunt Petunia carrying lemonade and Dudley carrying three glasses. "So," said Aunt Petunia. "So." "So what?" "You've been flirting with Rae, haven't you?" she asked, sneering. "No." "Don't take me for a fool, boy. I saw her come over after you ran away. Were you two chatting?" Dudley looked confused, but then he sneered at Harry. His question of who Rae was would wait until Aunt Petunia was done bullying Harry. "Why would you care?" Harry said. "You were in that garage for nearly half an hour! What were you doing? Snogging, perhaps?" Aunt Petunia looked very upset. "No way! I don't even know her that well! She just moved in, after all. If you must know, we were talking, yes. Satisfied?" Harry shot at her. "No. For so long?" Aunt Petunia said. "I think you were doing more!" "I was not. We were not. She came over to introduce herself without screaming," Harry said. "She.umm. was also telling me about where she used to live." Aunt Petunia looked like she was going to slap him, but decided not to. Harry stood his ground. "Put that gnome over by the hedge," she said. Harry carried the ten-pound Santa Claus over to the hedge, and put it down where Aunt Petunia pointed.  
  
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True to her word, Rae came over again at about twelve thirty, after lunch. Dudley was lounging on the porch swing with his mother, and he looked shocked at the sight of her. Rae smiled at Harry, who smiled back. He put the last gnome down by the oak tree. He walked past them into the garage. Harry picked up the first tray of marigolds and brought them over to where they were to be planted. "Oh, no dear, it's quite all right..." "But I insist." "All right. Harry!" Aunt Petunia called. Harry looked over to show he was listening. "Rae is going to help you. Rae, you can prune the roses, I guess. I'll get you some gloves and the pruning shears," Aunt Petunia said. She went into the garden shed and got out the things Rae needed. Rae nodded at her and took the gloves and shears. She put the gloves on and set to prune the rosebush nearest Harry. They didn't talk for a while. Dudley stayed on the porch swing, so they thought it was best not to talk. He would eavesdrop or interrupt their conversation. Harry saw Dudley studying Rae. Then he walked over to her. "Hi." "Hi." "I'm Dudley." "Rae." They shook hands. "So, you moved in across the street?" "Yep." "From America?" "Uh-huh." "Wow...that's so far away..." "Not really. I lived on the East Coast, in Virginia. It's not as far as it would be if I lived in California or something." "Where?" Harry snorted. He hoped Rae realized what a dope Dudley was. "It's on the other side of the country." "Oh, yeah... but Virginia doesn't get a lot of sun, does it?" "I lived by the beach. A real popular beach- Virginia Beach. Gets a lot of shoobies." "Whats?" Harry was confused also. Rae laughed. "Its surf speak. Shoobies are tourists, people who wear shoes all the time. I hate shoes, even flip flops," Rae scowled at her feet. "But I guess I'll have to get used to it. England isn't very sunny much, is it?" She asked. Dudley shook his head no. "Did you surf?" Dudley asked. "Every water sport that Virginia Beach offered, I did it. Except fishing. I don't eat fish. Or any meat, for that matter. I'm a vegetarian," Rae said. Dudley looked flabbergasted. "None? Not even- bacon?" Bacon was Dudley's favorite food. Rae laughed again. "Especially bacon. I lost a lot of weight since I became vegetarian. Meat is good for protein, but adds a lot of fat. I'm back to the weight I was at when I was eleven!" Rae looked down at her bellybutton ring. "And it had good rewards, too..." Now it was Harry's turn to laugh. Rae smiled at him and winked. Dudley scowled at Harry, and turned away. "Gotta go. Mum wants me to clean my room," he said. "Nice meeting you." "Bye!" Rae said. Dudley didn't answer. As soon as Dudley was safely inside, Rae burst out laughing. "He's hopeless, isn't he?" she asked. Harry nodded. "You flirt better," Rae said. "Thanks. I never knew I had it in me," Harry said. "Well, talking to an attractive girl like me, you never know what you may say or how you say it!" Rae said, fluttering her eyelids. "I could've flirted any old time, I just never did!" Harry threw a dirt clod at Rae. It hit her thigh. "Hey!" she threw a dirt clod back. As Harry was kneeling, it was easier to aim at his head-which is precisely where the clod hit. They both laughed. Harry was glad that he had someone to talk to, and it was his luck it was a pretty girl like Rae.  
  
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When the day was over, and the garden finished, Rae left. She and Harry had a great afternoon. Rae entertained Harry by telling him stories of her life on Virginia Beach. There was the one about this crazy man who tried to take a radio in the water. She was a lifeguard at the beach and was one of the people who helped stop him. Even funnier was the tale about her taking a walk with her friends at night on the beach, and they caught two eleven- year-olds snogging on the sand. "It was so funny, they were horrified that they had been caught. They ran off when I yelled 'Hey!' They didn't even know I was a lifeguard!" But the afternoon ended too quickly, the garden looked better than ever, and Rae had to go home. As Harry watched Rae walk through her front door, he sighed. He wished that she too was a witch, that she'd be going to Hogwarts.... Muggle or witch, Harry had to tell Ron. And maybe Hermione. But if he wrote to Hermione, he'd have to leave out the part about how much he liked her. Harry sighed again and walked up to the back door. He took off his muddy sneakers and gloves and left them at the door. Aunt Petunia was buzzing around the kitchen, gathering up the food for dinner. "Take a shower, you're filthy!" she barked. Harry nodded and trudged upstairs. Dudley's door was open a crack, and Harry could see that he hadn't cleaned his room. Dudley was playing some game on his computer where you had to blow up all the aliens to reach another level. Harry was glad that he was a wizard, not some Muggle like Dudley. He couldn't imagine himself sitting at a computer desk for hours and hours, blowing up poorly animated aliens for fun. It would be extremely boring. Then again, Dudley didn't have to worry about some evil wizard who was more than likely plotting ways to kill him. Harry walked into the bathroom. He picked out a towel and hung it on the rack. Before undressing, Harry made sure the door was locked. He looked out the window before pulling the shade down. Harry could see the left side of the Winstead house. They were sitting down to dinner. Rae sat down, her back to Harry. Her hair was still down, and it looked darker and extremely shiny, so Harry guessed that it was wet. He pulled the shade down and turned on the water, felt it, then turned it up so it was hotter. When the water was at a good temperature, Harry undressed and got in. After dinner, Harry went into his room. He looked at the pictures of Ron and Hermione, and the cards they sent him for his birthday two weeks ago. Hermione was laying on a towel in the sand by a beach in her picture. It was a shot of her from the front, so only her face was really visible. It wasn't a wizard picture, as she didn't move at all, so Harry guessed one of her parents took the picture. Ron's was of him hanging upside down on a Nimbus 2000 broomstick. In his letter he had told Harry that Fred and George had bought him, themselves, and Ginny one. They had also bought Ron new dress robes (stormy blue-gray, no laced ruffles like his recent maroon one). Ron looked extremely happy and was sticking out his tongue at Harry in a goofy way. It was, of course, a wizard picture, so Ron changed positions and zoomed around the inside of the picture. Harry picked up a roll of parchment and a quill. He started writing "Hey, Ron!" but the quill tip crumbled. At closer inspection, Harry realized it was a Sugar Quill, one of the dozen Hermione had sent him for his birthday. Harry found his handsome eagle-feather quill, and wrote:  
  
Hey, Ron! Thanks for the photo and the Every Flavor Beans! I gave Dudley one (he was so happy when I gave it to him, he hasn't had much sugar; he's still on that diet) and it turned out to be -guess- dung. I seriously thought it was chocolate, but he proved otherwise. Tell Fred and George that, they'll be happy to hear it. This girl moved in with our neighbors across the street (their granddaughter). She's our age- and Ron, she is gorgeous! She's not part veela, but she could be if she was a witch... Her name is Rae. She has really light blond hair, fair skin, bellybutton ring, and she's got these eyes...man, those eyes...they're light bluish lavender. But she moved over here because her parents were murdered. Instead of killing her, the guy poured gasoline (that's the chemical Muggles use to make their cars work, it's flammable) on the back of her left arm- and he lit her arm on fire! He put it out before the Muggle authorities arrived, but got away. Her arm is bright red there. When we first met, she acted strange. Rae shook my hand, and then when she saw my scar she screamed. She ran back to her house. I think she is a witch. Rae lived in the USA in a province- or state, whatever she said it was- called Virginia. She lived by the beach (Makes you wonder why she hasn't got a tan). There are wizards in America, right? But we talked later. Rae came over because my aunt slapped me (hard), and saw it. Then she touched my face where it was red, and then my scar. Anyway, she started stroking my face. I think my hormones took control for a minute there. But I swear she asked me if I liked when she touched my face. Rae says she didn't but she as good as admitted it soon after. I don't know what the heck was up with me. I bet she is a witch; I think she may have put me in a trance! Do the wizarding schools in the U.S. teach magic without wands? Do you have any advice? I know I won't get any from my uncle, that's for sure. I'll ask Sirius, too. Tell everyone I said hi (and thank Ginny for the jade snake, or basilisk). Congratulations on the better dress robes and Nimbus!  
  
--Harry  
  
Harry felt foolish, but he still thought that Ron would understand. After all, they were best friends. He didn't want to include that they had bumped their lips (by accident) because if Ron would tease him about liking Rae already, he would surely never let him live the "kissing" part down. Harry tied Ron's letter to Hedwig's leg and opened his window. "Take this to Ron," Harry told her. Hedwig clicked her beak and gave Harry an affectionate nip on the finger. She flew off into the night. Harry flopped on his bed and looked at the ceiling. He thought about Rae, about how pretty she was, how nice she was.... Then Harry looked at his pictures again. Ron was sleeping upside down, and Hermonie's was the same. Harry saw the little jade basilisk by the picture of Ron. It didn't move at all, but it seemed to dance in the little light that came off from Harry's desk. He looked out his window. Harry gasped. His room was across from Rae's! He dashed to the window and looked. She was there, sitting at her desk. Rae seemed to be writing a letter. She finished and got up. Rae walked out of sight, then back in front of her window. She was carrying a bird. Rae opened her window and sat down on the ledge. Harry got up and walked to his desk, trying to look like he was busying himself. He picked up Ron's letter and pretended to be reading it. Then he heard a tat-ta-tat-a-tat! at his window. A mourning dove was standing there, pecking his window to get in. He opened the window and it hopped in. Its pinkish-reddish-grayish feathers looked soft and beautiful. He put out his hand and stroked it curiously. Then he looked up at Rae. The bird was gone, she was looking at Harry and seemed to be smiling. Harry looked at the bird again. There was a note tied to its leg. He untied it and then read it.  
  
Hi Harry! This is my pet mourning dove, Coo. I taught her to carry mail like a carrier pigeon. I thought this would be a funny way for you to meet her! She loves to be petted. I also wanted to tell you that I had a really, really good time this afternoon. It was fun getting to know each other! I forgot to ask you: where do you go to school? Have a nice night! -Rae.  
  
Harry gulped. Where he went to school? He couldn't tell her! Harry thought about this for a moment. He grabbed a small piece of parchment and wrote:  
  
Thanks for the note! I take a train to my school, it's about an 8 or 9 hour ride from London to there. Coo is a pretty bird! Have a good night! -Harry.  
  
He tied the note to Coo's leg and sent her back to Rae. Coo landed in Rae's hair. Rae waved to Harry, he waved back, and they both shut their windows. Harry lay in bed, thinking. It was eleven at night. He thought about how she had twirled around with a dandelion in her hair, looking happy, like she had no cares in the world. But he worried about her, too. Was the killer out there, looking for her? Did she cry at night about her parents? Harry kept throwing good and bad thoughts back and forth until he fell asleep.  
  
****  
  
Harry awoke feeling rested. He would be staying home alone today, the Dursleys were taking Dudley school shopping. Harry dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. Uncle Vernon and Dudley were sitting at the table waiting for their grapefruit, eggs and bacon. Harry sat down and waited, too. His thoughts wandered up the stairs to his window, where Hedwig would be waiting at her return. He imagined a rat-tat-a-tat-a-rat coming from his window, when he realized it wasn't his imagination at all. There was a tawny owl at the kitchen window! He jumped up to let it in. His relatives screamed as the owl dropped the letter in Harry's hands, then soared out the window. Harry quickly closed the window after it. He sat down at the table, ignoring piercing stares from his aunt and uncle. Harry opened the letter, which had a wax seal on it showing a letter H with a badger, lion, eagle, and snake around it. The letter read:  
  
Dear Mr. Potter, The staff at Hogwarts has hoped your summer has been going well. As Professor Dumbledore informed you last year, the Dark Lord has returned to power. Hogwarts may well be the safest place to stay from He-Who-Must-Not- Be-Named, as such, we will try to keep the school running as normal as possible. New security precautions have been put on the castle, including a giant at every entrance. As this may alarm many, we assure startled parents and students that they have come over to the wizarding side and are more than willing (not to mention happy) to help us in our fight against the Dark Lord. Start of term will begin on September 1st, and studies for your Ordinary Wizarding Level tests will start September 2nd. Enclosed is a list for your books that you will need throughout the year. It is also my pleasure to inform you that you have been chosen as a prefect for Gryffindor. The job of a prefect takes the utmost responsibility, including setting a better example for those in younger years. Have a happy rest of summer! Minerva M. McGonagall Deputy Headmistress  
  
Harry looked up. Uncle Vernon looked angry. "Well, what is it?" he thundered. Harry thought of a way to best explain it. He knew that they wouldn't be any happier to hear he was a prefect, so he decided to leave that out. "Uh...start of term notice...booklist. That kind of stuff," Harry said. Uncle Vernon snorted. Harry saw that there was a third paper other than the letter and booklist.  
  
New fifth year prefects this year will be:  
  
Hermione Granger Parvati Patil Harry Potter Dean Thomas Of Gryffindor.  
  
Hannah Abbott Susan Bones Justin Finch-Fletchly Ernie Macmillian Of Hufflepuff.  
  
Terry Boot Mandy Brocklehurst Sean Moon Lisa Turpin Of Ravenclaw.  
  
Draco Malfoy Morag MacDougal Pansy Parkinson Blaise Zabini Of Slytherin.  
  
Harry groaned. Of course. Malfoy would be a prefect. Professor Snape, head of Slytherin house, Potions master and hater of every student but the ones in his own house favored Malfoy very much. "What?" asked Uncle Vernon, questioning why Harry groaned. "Nothing..." Uncle Vernon grunted again. Harry looked at Aunt Petunia, who was now putting his breakfast plate in front of him. As usual, there was little on his plate. He took a bite of his eggs and thought about being a prefect. Harry didn't want to be power-hungry like Percy Weasley, but he still wanted to let others know he did have the power to give others detention or take points away. Tat-a-tat! Another owl was at the window. Harry opened it, but took the parcel off instead of letting it in. The owl looked at the bacon in his hand and Harry let the owl have a piece of it. The owl hooted in thanks, then soared off. Harry opened the parcel, and saw that a silver prefect badge was inside. He put it on top of his letter and ate his breakfast.  
  
****  
  
An hour later the Dursleys had left. Harry lay on his bed, thinking. How would he get to Diagon Alley? Could Ron come and fetch him, like he did last year? What? As Harry was clouded in his thoughts, he heard a tapping at his window. Hedwig! Harry jumped up to let her in. She flew in and dropped a letter at his feet. Harry picked up a bag of Owl Treats and gave her one. Hedwig nipped his finger. Harry sat on his bed, excited. He opened the envelope and read:  
  
Dear Harry, Thanks for your letter! Rae sounds really great! I think you like her. She must have a lot of feminine charm behind her eyes to make you like that. I doubt she put you in a trance, you were just under the influence of a pretty girl's eyes. That's really sad about her parents, though. But I think she is a witch, after the way she acted at you. Sounds like it, anyway. Your eyes are going to pop out when you see the other newspaper clipping from the Daily Prophet! Very good news! Congratulations on being a prefect. No surprise that Hermione was made one! Too bad Malfoy is. See you later! --Ron  
  
Harry picked up the newspaper clipping. Upon reading the headline Harry jumped up and shouted, "YES!"  
  
SIRIUS BLACK FREED; FOUND TO BE INNOCENT  
  
Sirius Black, who was accused of killing a dozen Muggles and Peter Pettigrew nearly fourteen years ago was found innocent last week. Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, gave the Ministry of Magic pieces to the puzzle of how You-Know-Who came back to power. He claimed to have the word of Harry Potter and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley that Peter Pettigrew was not dead. They said that he had faked his own death to escape the actuality that he had given information to You-Know-Who on where to find James and Lily Potter so he could murder them. Pettigrew, in fact, had cut off his own finger, blasted the street behind him apart, and yelled that Sirius Black had indeed betrayed the Potters. Pettigrew, an unregistered Animagus, turned into his rat form and was in hiding for twelve years. Black had been put in Azkaban for the supposed murder, but escaped after twelve years, finally confronting Pettigrew in front of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Many were under the impression that Black had escaped to kill the last Potter, when he had been after Pettigrew, who was acting as a pet rat to Harry's friend Ron. Pettigrew escaped, unfortunately, and helped bring You-Know-Who to power. Because of these reasons, the search for Black has been called off, and, if and when he hears word of his release, he will hopefully forgive the mistake and come back to our world and act his duty as godfather to Harry Potter.  
  
Harry read the last eight words with a rising feeling of embarrassment. Many people would think that Black was still the bad guy, and that he would have a bad influence on Harry. But Harry knew that he needed to inform Sirius about this. So Harry sat down, excited, and picked up a piece of parchment to write a letter to him.  
  
Dear Sirius, Ron recently sent me a letter, including a very interesting clipping from the Daily Prophet. And you know what it was about? You! And you know what the headline reads? SIRIUS BLACK FREED; FOUND TO BE INNOCENT! It explained about Pettigrew and all that. Dumbledore cleared your name. So you can come out of hiding! I also wanted to tell you that a girl moved in with our neighbors (her grandparents) across the street. Her name is Rae and she lived in the States. She moved in across the street because her parents were murdered. I have high suspicions that she is a witch. But she acts like a Muggle. She's really very pretty, and I think that she likes me. The reason I think she's a witch is because she screamed when she saw my scar. Rae apologized later and said that she bumped the burn on the back of her arm. I think she knows who I am and was shocked that the famous Harry Potter is her new neighbor. If she's a witch, then she may come to Hogwarts. Come rescue me from the Muggles if you can! -Harry  
  
Harry looked at his letter, then at Hedwig. "Up to another delivery?" he asked her. She opened one eye, hooted, then turned her back on him. Harry laughed. "How about later tonight?" Hedwig turned her head to face him and hooted again, both eyes open. Harry laughed again. "I take that as a yes."  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter Two  
  
  
  
A few days later, Harry received a letter from Sirius.  
  
Dear Harry, Thank you for your letter! Dumbledore had told me that he was trying to prove me innocent, and that the word of you, Ron, Hermione and Lupin would help. So I knew, but thank you anyway. Rae sounds nice. A married couple was murdered in the U.S. recently, and they had a daughter. I don't really know any more information, but I do think they may have been wizarding folk. I can come get you from your relatives as soon as I get my house back. Because of what I was thought to be, it was believed to be cursed, so nobody moved in there after I went to Azkaban. That will only take one day, but I can't come get you until the last week of August. Before then Dumbledore will be taking me to the Minister of Magic so he can say hello to me and let the magical world I'm not a mass murderer. Just be sure your aunt and uncle know so that they won't be too upset. See you then! --Sirius.  
  
Harry was so happy he felt like he was going to explode. The Dursleys would be more than happy to get rid of him. But he would tell them. Suddenly Harry felt sad. He would have to leave Rae. And they barely knew each other...but Harry wasn't happy with the Dursleys. He would be happier with Sirius. Later that day, Harry went down to dinner with the letter in his hand. "Aunt Petunia? Uncle Vernon?" he said. "What?" they both snapped. "I'm moving out." "WHAT?" Aunt Petunia gasped angrily. "You don't have anywhere to go!" Uncle Vernon "My godfather wrote me a letter. He can take me in the last week of this month," Harry explained, holding up the letter. Uncle Vernon snatched it and started to read it. "What godfather?" Aunt Petunia asked. "The one you've been afraid will come and turn you all into pigs- not that some of you aren't ones already," Harry said. Dudley make a rude gesture with his middle finger behind his parents backs at Harry. Aunt Petunia had flames in her eyes. Uncle Vernon didn't look much different. "Fine. Fine. We don't want you here, anyway," he said, breathing like a winded rhinoceros. He threw the letter across the table and it landed in Harry's plate. Harry sat down feeling happy. Dudley was looking daggers at him. Harry was sure that Dudley would be gloating if he hadn't made the comment about people in the household being pigs. He ate his chicken and mashed potatoes in silence, thinking about how wonderful it would be to live with Sirius. He could be able to do his homework without feeling like an alien anymore. Maybe Sirius's house would have more magical objects, like mirrors that told you how you looked, or interesting clocks like the Weasleys had. He could get to Platform 9 3/4 without relying on Ron's family. He could get to Diagon Alley easily.... Harry's thoughts of life with his godfather continued past dinner. He sat down at his desk and took out a peice of parchment.  
  
Dear Ron, Thanks for your letter. I wrote to Sirius and he replied today. As soon as he gets his house back, I'm moving in! It will be relieving to be around familiar wizarding things! I'll give you my new address when I can (unless Pigwidgeon can find me). Can you make a date to meet in Diagon Alley? I'll write to Hermione and ask the same. Sirius plans to come get me the last week of August, so I'll be moving in then. If you can't, I'll see you at King's Cross on the first! --Harry.  
  
He looked at Hedwig. "One more delivery?" he asked. She clicked her beak. "Yes?" Harry said, opening her cage. Hedwig looked a bit annoyed, but she was willing. She nipped his finger and held her leg out so he could tie the letter to it. Harry did so, then let her outside into the warm summer night.  
  
****  
  
The last week of August came. Harry got up at nine on Sunday and started to put some of his school items in his trunk. Sirius had written to him saying he was coming that day around noon, by Floo powder. Harry had informed his uncle of this, so he could unblock the fireplace. They had an unpleasant experience with the Weasleys coming by Floo powder last summer, and they had left leaving the living room looking ashy and dirty. Soon Harry had his trunk halfway packed. He thought about the day before. Harry had met Rae outside, and told her that he was moving in with his godfather. She seemed less sad than Harry did. Rae had said that she would try and get Coo to fly to his new house. She had hugged Harry, saying that she was sorry that they only knew each other for a brief time. He had left feeling sadder than ever. But he would be happy with Sirius. Noon came. Harry had taken his things downstairs and was munching on a turkey sandwich when he heard a thump! in the living room. He rushed in to find Sirius sitting on the hearth, dusty. His long, black hair wasn't tangled, as it usually was, but looked brushed and well taken care of. He had on gray cotton robes, although that may have been from the ashes. "Hello, Harry," Sirius said, walking forward to shake Harry's hand. Harry took it eagerly. Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley walked in. "Hello. I presume you are Harry's godfather," Uncle Vernon said stiffly. Sirius nodded his head. Dudley was whimpering, his hands over his bottom. A half-giant friend of Harry's, named Hagrid, had once given Dudley a pig's tail. He feared any wizard other than Harry for this reason. At that moment the doorbell rang. "I'll get it- as a last favor to you," Harry said. Sirius laughed. "I'll get a fire started while you answer it," Sirius said. Harry walked to the door and opened it. Rae was looking back at him. "Oh, hi, Rae," Harry said. "I came to say goodbye," she said. Harry nodded. "Know where you'll be moving?" Rae asked. Harry shook his head. "Sirius! Where exactly do you live?" he called. "Near Ottery St. Catchpole. We'll be close to Ron's," Sirius called back. "There you go," Harry said. He felt happier than ever before. He could visit Ron during the summer! "Ah, that's only a few hours away. Coo can fly there," Rae said, smiling. "Expect a letter from me soon," she said. "Harry!" Sirius called. "Ok, one minute!" Harry yelled. "I guess this is goodbye," he said. "Ok. Goodbye. Have a nice life...hopefully it'll be better than living with these horrors," Rae said. She hugged him tightly, then kissed him once on each cheek. Harry felt himself redden, but he kissed her left cheek. Rae laughed and turned her back on him. "Bye," Harry said. She turned around, walking backwards, waving and smiling. Rae turned to face her home and walked normally through her door. Harry stood at the door for a few seconds, then turned to go inside.  
  
****  
  
One wild Floo ride later, Harry was at his new home. He looked around. There wasn't much in it other than boxes and furniture. But it did feel like home. He was actually welcome here. Ron's house was a stretch of land away; but Harry could see it from one of the windows by the stairs. "Like it?" Sirius asked. "I'm sure I will when everything's unpacked and it looks ready to live in," Harry said happily, with a grin taking over his face. Sirius smiled as well. "C'mon, I'll show you to your room." Sirius levitated Harry's trunk and they walked up a spiral staircase. He led Harry to a room, probably five times the size of the one he had at Privet Drive. Sirius let Harry's trunk come to the floor with a clunk. Harry looked around his room. The walls were a soft beige. A glass door led out to a balcony facing the countryside. A wooden closet door stood near there on the right side. There was a brick fireplace near the closet. The floor was covered in a three inch layer of dust, and there was no bed. But there was a desk on the left wall. A black leather wheeling chair, chair was pushed in under the desk and an armchair of the same material on the right side. Harry turned to face Sirius. "Can you get rid of the dust?" he asked, laughing. "Oh, sure!" Sirius said. "Expello!" he cried, pointing at the floor. The dust stayed. "Whoops! I made the floor disappear!" Sirius said. Harry was frightened, but the dust was holding them up, it was so thick and packed together. Sirius brought the floor back. He then said "Expello dust!" and the dust was gone, and the floor was shining. Harry started laughing for no reason. Sirius's face broke into a smile, and he too, started laughing. Sirius did more dust-cleaning spells on the rest of the room. "Got a bed?" Harry asked, still grinning. Sirius nodded. "One minute. Take the rest of your things up here, and I'll bring it down from the attic," he replied. Harry nodded, then they both went in separate directions. All Harry had to carry up was his Hogwarts trunk, a school bag, his treasured broomstick (a Firebolt), and Hedwig. He took Hedwig, the school bag and the trunk up, then flew his Firebolt upstairs. Sirius smiled at the sight of him making circles around the huge room, a king size bed floating in front of him. He let it down across from the desk on the other side of the wall. "That a good spot?" he asked Harry. Harry came down next to him. He studied it, then nodded. "D'you think we could give the room a new paint job?" he asked. "Of course! What color?" Sirius asked. Harry considered this. "You'll be doing it by magic?" Harry asked. Sirius nodded. "Um...see what regular green looks like," he said. Sirius pulled his wand out of his cloak, then pointed it at the ceiling. "Paintus vert!" he exclaimed. A stream of solid green liquid shot up and hit the ceiling. At first, only a splat of green was there. Then, it expanded, taking over the rest of the ceiling, then the wall in front of them, the wall to the left, the one to the right, and the one behind them. It dried in an instant. Harry inspected this. He walked around the room. It seemed a little smaller, as the paint was a darker color, but it was still big. Harry looked at Sirius. "Perfect," he said. Sirius smiled. "Good. Start unpacking. I'll start cleaning everything up- I moved in at about six this morning," he said. Harry nodded, then started for his trunk. He opened it, and looked at all the things inside it. His books from the past year lay there, along with his wand, quills, ink bottles and parchment rolls. He took his writing materials out. Harry put them in the main desk drawer. Then he put his wand in with the parchment and quills. Just as Harry was wondering where to put his books, Sirius came in, holding seven bookshelves. "Here's some bookshelves. Lemme put them in- hang on- Nailio Livre!" he said. The bookshelves attached themselves to the wall to the right of Harry's desk. He smiled at Sirius and started to put his books on the shelves. Sirius left.  
  
****  
  
An hour later, Harry's room was really a room. Sirius had come up several times, with things to make Harry's room better- including a black leather loveseat, sheets and pillows for the bed, curtains, a beige rug, hangers for the closet, and many books. He also brought up a bookcase for these. With the black furniture and the beige rug, the green walls didn't really look so good anymore. "Sirius? Could you change the walls to white? The room kinda clashes with the rug and chairs." "Why not?" Sirius said, performing the same ritual, except he said "Paintus blanc!" instead of "Paintus vert!". Sirius then explained to Harry that "blanc" meant white in French, and "vert" meant green. White looked better with everything else. The room looked much more humongous. Harry smiled. "This is perfect," he said. Sirius smiled back. "Why don't you go visit Ron? He'll be surprised," Sirius said. "Yeah, I think I will," Harry said. He walked out the door, downstairs, and out the front door, carrying his Firebolt. Harry levitated about fifteen feet in the air, and could see Ron's house. He zoomed off in its direction. In five minutes time, he was at their front door. Knock knock! he tapped his knuckles smartly on the door. The door opened, and Ginny Weasley was there. Ginny had always been taken with Harry since they first met. Harry had saved her life in his second year (her first year) at Hogwarts. She screamed when she saw Harry. He started laughing. "Harry! What are you doing here?" she said. "Moved in over there, with my godfather," Harry said pointing to the big wooden house he had left form. Ginny nodded, her face red. "Thanks for the snake- or is it a basilisk?" Harry said. "Either or," she replied. "Gin! What's the matter- HARRY!" Percy Weasley, her older brother, was suddenly beside her. "Hello! How've you been?" he asked. "Fine. Just moved in with my godfather," he jerked his thumb towards his new home. "Come in! Ron'll be pleased...." Percy said. The redheaded Weasleys turned their backs on him, and Harry followed, closing the door behind him. "Everyone's outside. I was up doing my work for the Ministry..." at these words he puffed his chest out, as though his Head Boy badge was still pinned to it. "...and then Ginny interrupted me by screaming," he said, glaring at her. "Shut up, Perce," Ginny said, reddening. Harry rolled his eyes. "Percy, can't you just give your siblings a rest? They're only human," Harry said. "Well, they don't have a job at the Ministry! I need quiet! So no, I can't give them a rest..." Just then, they walked outside. "HARRY!" five voices yelled at once. Ron and his older twin brothers Fred and George, ran over. "What are you doing here?" Ron asked, amazed. "Moved in with Sirius. Over that way, in the big wooden house," Harry said, jabbing his thumb behind him again, in the direction of the house. "But isn't that house cursed?" Fred asked. "It was thought to be, because of what people thought Sirius was," Harry explained. "Oh. Damn. Could've had fun exploring it, wouldn't you have?" George asked. "GEORGE!" Mrs. Weasley, a plump, short witch, came over. "Watch your mouth! Not everyone here is in their seventh year at Hogwarts!" she shrieked. "Mum, I don't care. Many kids at Hogwarts were cursing in their first years and still do," Ginny said. "I'm not five anymore!" she said huffily. Ron and Harry nodded in agreement. "Of course not. Hello, Harry dear!" said Mrs. Weasley, bringing him into a tight hello hug. "Likewise. Great to see you, Harry!" said Mr. Weasley, shaking his hand as soon as he was out of Mrs. Weasley's embrace. Harry nodded, smiling. "So, what's your room like?" Ron asked. "It's like a ballroom," Harry said. "Then again, it may be smaller, but it only seems huge to me because I'm used to smaller rooms, and cupboards under stairs." At this, Ron burst out laughing. "Fireplace, walk-in closet, balcony...way too much for me. I'd be happy in a smaller room. The closet would work, it's got room for a thousand outfits in there," Harry said. "I guess when it was built, a rich family owned it. Sirius probably inherited it. It was his old home." he finished. "Did Sirius get any money for the Ministry's mistake?" asked Ginny. "Now, see here, Ginny, it appeared that Black had done it. It wasn't a mistake, just a misunderstanding," Percy said defensively. The twins made silent but goofy impressions of Percy talking, letting their tongues fly all around the place. Their mother, fortunately, wasn't looking. "I have no idea. Maybe," Harry said, trying not to laugh. "Let's go inside. It's sweltering out here," Ron said. Harry nodded and followed him inside. "So," Ron said. "Feel sad to leave Rae behind?" he asked, grinning. "I guess. She wasn't," Harry said. "Rae kissed me on each cheek when she said goodbye, though..." "Aha! She likes you!" Ron said. "Nah. Just being polite," Harry said. Ron smirked. "Yeah, right. What was up with all that stroking stuff?" he asked. Harry shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe that's her way of meeting guys...one-on-one. She's probably had tons of boyfriends...she was a junior lifeguard at a beach, anyway," Harry said. "More than likely, they were all muscles, blond, and too thick to string more than two words together." Ron laughed. "Probably," he said. They climbed five flights of stairs to Ron's room. They moment Ron opened the door, Harry had to squint his eyes. Posters of witches and wizards wearing bright orange robes- the Chudley Cannons, Ron's favorite Quidditch team, covered the whole wall and ceiling. "What?" "The orange! I'm blinded!" Harry said in mock pain, shielding his eyes. Ron laughed again. "Yeah, it is pretty bright," he agreed, looking around. The witches and wizards zoomed around on their broomsticks, waving. Three of them were passing a bright red ball called a Quaffle to each other, ducking dooming cannonballs called Bludgers, followed by two Beaters, who carried short clubs in one hand, hitting the Bludgers. Harry could see one of the players -a Seeker- chasing a golden golf ball on wings around. The gold ball with wings was called the Snitch. Harry played the Seeker position on the Gryffindor. "Ron?" "Yeah?" "I wonder who the Quidditch captain's going to be, now that Wood's gone..." Oliver Wood had been the previous Quidditch captain from Harry's first to third year. Quidditch had been called off the last year because of the Triwizard Tournament. "I bet it'll be you." Ron said. "You're the best player on the team!" "Nah," Harry disagreed. "I don't want to. We need a new Keeper, and I don't want to have to go all around Gryffindor, begging everyone above first year to be Keeper- unless you'd save me the trouble and join?" Harry asked. "No way! I suck at Keeping. I'm not much of a player, anyway. I like watching and flying, but not playing. I don't mind it too much, but I don't like committing all that time," Ron said. Harry nodded. "Yeah." He thought for a minute. "Why not go play a couple rounds? I have plenty of time." "Sure, why not? I see you've got your Firebolt," Ron said. Harry nodded again. They went downstairs, announced they would be playing Quidditch, and were joined by Fred, George and Ginny. Ginny volunteered to be the referee, while the boys played the game. As three of the four balls included in Quidditch fly, they only used the Quaffle (a red, soccer-ball-sized ball) to play.  
  
**** Harry lay in bed several hours later. He had gone down to the village pub with Sirius for dinner. Tomorrow he, Sirius, and the Weasleys would travel to a shabby pub called the Leaky Cauldron by Floo powder. Ron had planned to meet Hermione there already, and if Hagrid hadn't come to save him or something like that, they would have come and got him like they did the summer before. Harry wondered about Rae and how she felt right now, about Hermione and where she was. Before Harry could wonder any more, there was a tap-tat-tap! at the balcony door. It was Coo! "Coo! What are you doing here?" She had a letter attached to her leg. Harry took it from her leg and read it.  
  
Dear Harry, I hope you're having a good time living with your godfather. I can't stop thinking about the fun we had the day we first met. It stinks that you had to move. We had only known each other for a month. But at least you're close by and not all the way in Italy or something. I hope Coo finds you easy enough. She usually does find the addressee. By the way, when we were sitting in your garage that day, what did you mean when you said "yes"? Have a nice rest of summer! I start September first at my school. I'm going shopping in London tomorrow. When do you start? From, Rae P.S. Would you mind giving Coo a drink of water before she goes? She gets awful parched after flights, if they're more than ten minutes away.  
  
Harry let Coo inside and opened Hedwig's cage. She was on a hunt at the moment, but her water dish was still full. Harry left the cage door open, and Coo flew to the water dish. He sat on his leather wheeled chair with a sigh. There was no way he would get to sleep now. Harry decided to write a letter to Rae.  
  
Dear Rae, Thanks for the letter! It's a little lonely here; the house is huge! At least my friend Ron lives close by. I don't really want to explain why I said "yes" in the garage, because I really don't know what I meant by it. The sliver of an idea feels personal to me and I can't say. It's not that I don't trust you or anything, I just don't know you all that well. I start school the same day you do. I doubt it's the same school, although it is co-ed. Wish it was the same school! Hope to see you sometime! --Harry.  
  
Harry looked up to see Coo holding out her leg. He rolled it up as small but unbulky as possible, then tied it to her leg. Coo let out a hoot and flew off into the night. Harry sighed again and laid down on his bed. He had been right; there was no way he would get to sleep now.  
  
***** "Harry, get up! We're going to be late!" a voice yelled. "Huh- what?" Harry said groggily. "Sirius?" he said, reaching around for his glasses, feeling nothing but air. That's odd, he thought. "What time is it?" "Seven fifty-three. We have to meet the Weasleys in seven minutes! I've been trying to wake you up for a half hour now!" Harry suddenly realized that Sirius was below him, pointing at Harry with his wand. He screamed, realizing he was floating ten feet in midair. Sirius laughed and doubled over. Harry yelled as he fell through the air, only to land on his bed with a flump! He felt no pain. "What the h*ll!" the words came out of Harry faster than he could think. Realizing what he had said, Harry slapped his hand over his mouth. He never cursed out loud in front of people, if at all. "Hey, watch your mouth," Sirius said, still chortling. Harry then guessed that the bed was made so that if you did fall onto it from ten feet up, it'd really cushion your fall. He grabbed his glasses angrily. Harry stood up and walked swiftly over to his closet and slammed the door. He pulled off his pajamas and dirty boxers. He pulled on another clean pair of boxers, some blue jeans, a black muscle shirt, and his wizard robes. Sirius opened the door as Harry put on his sneakers. "Sorry, Harry. You were dead asleep, so I thought that would work," he said, sounding a little hurt. Harry looked up. "It's okay. I uh... got a visit from a dove last night, and it kept me up." "Huh?" "A dove. That girl I told you about? Rae? She has a mourning dove trained to act like a post owl. Rae sent me a letter last night. I couldn't fall asleep," he said. "Oh," said Sirius. "Come, we have to go. We'll eat in the Leaky Cauldron with the Weasleys and Hermione when we get there," he finished, turning around to the fireplace. Harry turned to it, too. "Inflamio!" Sirius lit a roaring fire in it, and took a black velvet satchel out of his pocket. He poured a small handful of Floo powder into his hand and thrust it into the fire. The flames turned green. "You first. Say 'Leaky Cauldron', okay?" Harry nodded. He stepped into the fire. "Leaky Cauldron," he said, being as clear as possible. He zoomed along, starting to feel sick. He could see fireplaces and the rooms behind them for split seconds, but he would quickly go by them. THUMP! Harry landed in a fire. He scrambled out, hoping he wouldn't get burned. Looking around, Harry saw that he had landed in the right place. "Ah, Mr. Potter! Pleasant surprise! Sirius will be following you, I presume?" an old walnut of a man named Tom asked. He was the bartender of the Leaky Cauldron. His question was answered when Sirius landed in the fire. He lingered there for a moment, and walked out calmly. The flames turned back to orange. "G'morning, Tom," Sirius mumbled, brushing ash and soot off himself. "Ah, Sirius. It's been a while, hasn't it? I haven't seen you in person since...." Tom's eyes strayed to Harry, who looked away. Sirius nodded. Harry guessed that Tom and Sirius hadn't seen each other since Voldemort had first disappeared, and Tom thought that mentioning this might make Harry feel upset. "Yes," Sirius said. "So, could'ja fix us some breakfast?" Tom smiled his usual toothless grin. "Yes, of course! The Weasleys are here, they said that you were coming..." tom was interrupted by a girl's voice. "Mum! There they are!" it was Ginny. She popped up next to Harry. Harry thought this behavior was odd. Ginny was usually shy and quiet around him, which had to do with the fact that Harry had saved Ginny's life in his second year. That was also why Ginny had sent him a jade snake for his birthday. "Hi, Ginny," said Harry. She smiled. "C'mon, we're starving! Sit down! We got here twenty minutes ago and we still haven't eaten!" she said, tugging Harry's arm. He was surprised at how strong she was, since he almost fell over. It wasn't that he was weak, doing work in the garden all summer had made him quite a bit more muscular. Tom and Sirius followed Harry and Ginny to the biggest table in the pub. All the red-haired Weasleys, plus a brunette-haired girl, was sitting there. The girl with the brown hair was Hermione Granger, Harry's other best friend. "Hi," Harry said. Hermione smiled, and gave him a "hello how are you" hug. There was a seat between Ron and Hermione, and Harry sat down. Hermione was next to Ginny, who was next to Mrs. Weasley, and she was next to her husband, and the twins sat by him. Percy sat between the twins and his older brothers Charlie and Bill, and there was an empty seat by Bill. He smiled at Sirius as he sat down. "Hello, Sirius! How are you doing?" he asked. "Very well, thanks," Sirius said with a nod. Everyone exchanged hellos and soon ordered breakfast. It arrived, levitating, twenty minutes later. As Harry chewed on his bacon, he noticed how pretty Hermione had gotten. She didn't seem to have grown much taller, but her hair wasn't as bushy. On the contrary, it was sleek and shiny. "Hermione?" "Hmm?" "You got your hair straightened!" She laughed and nodded. "Yep. My mum did it for me. If she wasn't a dentist, she would be a hairdresser," Hermione told him. "How was your summer, Harry?" "Fine. Nothing really happened. A girl moved in with her grandparents across the street, but nothing else," Then Harry looked at Sirius, who was raising his eyebrow. "Oh yeah! And I moved in with Sirius." "You did! Great! Where is your house?" Hermione asked. "Walking distance from Ron's," Harry answered. She smiled. "Then I guess I can visit you when I visit Ron. That's very good," Hermione said.  
  
****  
  
An hour later, the bill was paid for breakfast and they had left the Leaky Cauldron. They walked to a snow white marble building called Gringotts, which was a wizard bank run by goblins. Harry waited in line with Hermione, since she was changing Muggle money to wizarding money. Mr. Weasley and Sirius went down on the carts to the vaults where all the money was stored.  
  
As they stood in line, Harry saw a girl at the front, alone. She had long, light blond hair that looked awfully familiar.... Rae! he thought. But the girl put her hood up and Harry didn't have a chance to look at her face. It couldn't have been, he thought. Rae's a Muggle. "Harry? Hello? Are you alive?" Hermione was snapping her fingers in his face. "What?" he had been deep in thought about Rae. "Come on, move up!" she pulled him up a few paces. Harry looked to see if the hooded girl had gone to an old couple. No, she stood alone. She wasn't waiting for anyone, just making sure she had enough money to buy her supplies. Harry saw that Hermione was looking for what he was looking at. "Harry? Who are you looking for?" she asked. "N-no one. Just saw someone I thought I knew." "Really? Who?" Hermione asked curiously, looking around. "Nobody from Hogwarts, just someone who lives near me," Harry replied. He watched the girl exit Gringotts. "Harry- our turn," Hermione said. "Oh, right," he moved up to the counter with her. "Hello," Hermione said to the goblin. He grunted. "I'd like to make a transfer for these," she said, laying five ten-pound notes on the counter. The goblin nodded. "What do you want out of it?" "One all Sickles, another all Knuts, and the rest Galleons," Hermione said. The goblin grunted and nodded again. Using one long finger, he touched a note. It changed to a pile of silver Sickles. He did the same thing again four times, and Hermione had a big pile of change. "Thank you," she said, putting the pile into a velvet change purse. She and Harry walked out of line and joined up with everyone else outside. Mr. Weasley and Sirius were still in the bank. Harry looked around. The girl was nowhere in sight. " 'Arry! 'Arry!" a familiar gruff but friendly voice called Harry's name. He looked up to see a large man with a tangle of hair on both his face and head. He was about seven feet tall, and parted the large crowd easily. This man was Rubeus Hagrid. It was he who had rescued Harry from his burning house the night his parents died. It was Hagrid who had come to fetch Harry form the Dursleys and informed him that he was a wizard at age eleven. Harry trusted Hagrid greatly, and ran up to him, grinning. "Hagrid! How are you?" he asked. "Just great," Hagrid said, also grinning. Ron and Hermione ran up next to Harry. "Hello! Hagrid!" Hermione said. "Summer been going well?" she asked. Hagrid grinned more broadly. "Wonderful. Spent every day with Olympe... you know, Madame Maxime," he said. Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged smiles. Madame Maxime was also half- giant, and she was the headmaster of Beuxbatons Academy of Magic. Beuxbatons was a competing school in the Triwizard Tournament. "Have you gotten engaged yet?" Ron asked. Hermione looked at Ron sternly, and Harry laughed. Hagrid did, too. "As a matter of fact...." Hagrid his left hand out of his pocket. There was an extremely large gold ring on his ring finger. "That's wonderful!" exclaimed Hermione. Harry and Ron grinned. "Yeah, it is! When's the wedding?" Harry asked. "Day before term ends in June," Hagrid said. "You're invited, 'o course. Harry, Ron, would yeahs mind being my groomsmen?" he asked. They both nodded. "Hermione, Olympe says you can be a bridesmaid, as well," Hagrid told her. She looked very happy. " 'Agrid! Ah, zerre you are!" a low but female voice rumbled over the crowd. Madame Maxime parted the crowd and made her way over to Hagrid. " 'Arry! It is such a pleasure to see you. Ah, I presume zees fine young people are Ron and 'Ermione?" she said. Ron and Hermione nodded. " 'Agrid, you 'ave told zem, I azzume?" Madame Maxime asked. Hagrid nodded. " 'E was so modest when 'e purr-posed, and such a gentleman!" she exclaimed. Hagrid blushed behind his bushy beard. Ron laughed. " Harry! C'mon!" called Sirius. "Hagrid- would you and Madame Maxime like to come along with us?" Hermione asked. "Would love tuh, but we 'ave tuh get some other things...food, mainly. Grocery shoppin' is in a diff'ernt direction, otherwise we would," Hagrid said. They nodded. "Nice seeing you. See you on Monday, Hagrid!" Monday was the start of term. Everyone said goodbye. Harry, Ron and Hermione ran back to the awaiting adults, ready to shop.  
  
****  
  
As they walked down Diagon Alley, Harry looked for the girl. He didn't see her anywhere. There were several blondes, but none looked anything else like Rae. And then, he wondered: why he was fixed on Rae? There were many blondes in the world, and many of them would have fair skin. It wasn't so abnormal. But... "Harry! Honestly, he has been zoning out all day today, since we were in the line at Gringotts," Hermione said, snapping Harry back to life with a gentle slap to the head. "Are you all right?" she asked, looking concerned. Ron was grinning knowingly, and Sirius shook his head, smiling. They knew what Harry was distracted with. "Yeah. I'm fine, don't get so worried," Harry told her. "Nothing's wrong. Or actually...." he looked at Sirius. "Maybe I've being afflicted by falling ten feet onto a bed!" Harry said sarcastically, trying to make Ron and Sirius from thinking Harry was thinking about Rae. "What?" Hermione and Ron said together. Sirius and Harry laughed. "Sirius woke me up by levitating me ten feet off my bed, then let me fall," he explained. Hermione looked perplexed. "Don't worry, the bed has cushioning charms on it. That's the way it was made," Sirius said. "Most are. That was a gift from Remus Lupin, he thinks that my bed is too hard. He stayed at my house for a little bit after he left Hogwarts, and used my bed. Went and bought that spare the next day, he hated mine! But I like my bed just fine, I saved the one Remus used, in case someone moved in...." Harry smiled. They continued to walk down the street, and Harry pointed to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. He was wearing his biggest set of robes, all his others were too small and showed his ankles and wrists very much. Hermione and Ron nodded and went inside with Harry, Sirius and Ginny (the other Weasleys were off shopping for things only Fred and George needed). "Hello there, dears," said Madam Malkin. "Hogwarts?" she asked. They all nodded. "What house?" "Gryffindor," Ginny said. "Ahhhh, my old house. Well, we just got orders for Hogwarts house embroidery patches- stick right on the breast pocket with a Sticky Spell. Required for your robes now, so there's no extra charge," she rambled. "This way," Madam Malkin led them into the robe room. They all tried on Gryffindor robes until they found good fits. Ginny's, however, needed to be hemmed at the bottom, so while Harry and the others paid for their new robes, she was standing on a stool in the fitting room. She came out five minutes later with wet streaks down her now red face. "Gin, what's wrong?" Ron asked. She shook her head and pushed him toward the door. "Get out, out! Hurry!" she hissed, also nudging Harry and Hermione in that direction. "What?" Harry asked. "Go outside, it's-" but then, someone that all they all despised walked into the room- Draco Malfoy. "Oh, look. It's the famous Harry Potter and his lame friends. Not so famous now, eh Potter? Now that the Dark Lord is back? You were loved for making him go away, but now he's returned-" "Who the h*ll do you think you are?!?!" Sirius snapped. Malfoy, who was usually pale, turned white as snow. It was clear that Malfoy thought a murderer was standing in front of him, although he more than likely knew that Sirius was innocent. "I.uh..." Malfoy stuttered. "Don't you waste your breath stuttering. You ought to be more respectful of people, even if they aren't famous!" Sirius said, looking angrier than Harry had ever seen him. "Don't you talk to anyone like that...oh...wait..." Sirius studied Malfoy's face. "You're Lucius Malfoy's son, aren't you?" he asked. Draco nodded. "Ha, no wonder. You're as ugly and rude as he is." Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny burst out laughing. Malfoy looked down and mumbled something to himself, leaving the robes he had been fitted to on the floor as he left the shop. "What did he say?" asked Ginny. "Probably something like 'When my father hears about this...'!" Harry said, still laughing. Hermione was wiping tears from her eyes. "You should have called him a dirty little ferret," Ron said. At this, Hermione fell onto the floor. In their previous year, their impostor of a teacher had Transfigured Malfoy into a white ferret for trying to attack Harry when his back was turned. Moody/Crouch had bounced Malfoy around the corridor until Professor McGonagall had made him stop. Malfoy had never been able to live it down since. Harry explained this to Sirius and Ginny, and they started laughing too. Ginny paid for her robes and they left the robe shop feeling happy.  
  
****  
  
Monday morning arrived. Harry got out of bed and dressed in normal Muggle clothes. He wondered how he was to get to King's Cross Station. Sirius opened the door. "Ah, you're awake. Do I look like a Muggle?" he asked, walking into the room. He wore dress pants and a white t-shirt. Harry nodded. They couldn't wear robes to the train station, with all the Muggles around. "Good. I hoped so," Sirius said. "How are we getting to King's Cross?" Harry asked him. "Ministry cars. Special offer from Cornelius Fudge," Sirius told him. Harry nodded. Cornelies Fudge was the Minister of Magic. He started combing his hair. Sirius walked out of the room so Harry could finish getting ready. Ten minutes later, Sirius yelled for Harry to come and eat. He walked to the edge of the stairs, then jumped on the banister. He slid backwards at a lighting speed. Before he hit the dragon at the end, Harry jumped off, landing on his feet. Sirius stood there, shaking his head and laughing. Harry smiled, then ran to the kitchen. He sat down at the table where his eggs, bacon and blueberry pancakes sat. He bolted down the eggs, then munched on his bacon. Sirius kept laughing. "What's so funny?" Harry asked. "I remember being anxious my fifth year of Hogwarts. I wasn't a prefect, but I was extremely jumpy anyway. You remind me of me," Sirius said. Harry shrugged. Soon, Harry and Sirius stood outside the house at ten fifteen. Three Ministry cars pulled up. "Harry!" Ron was partway out of the front car. "Come sit in here!" Harry guessed that the other Weasleys were in the other two cars. Since Mr.Weasley worked at the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the Ministry of Magic, so Harry guessed that he had gotten a special offer from Fudge, too. Sirius went to the last car where Mrs. Weasley was visible and got in. A Ministry driver got out of Harry's car and loaded his belongings into the trunk of the car as Harry got in. Hermione sat by the window next to Ron. Harry shut the door, the driver got back in his seat, and they drove off. "So, have any good dreams lately?" asked Ron. Harry raised his eyebrows. Ron grinned. Sirius told me all about how you got a visit from a dove the other night...." "Oh, that...no, and will you stop bugging me about it?" Harry said. Ron started laughing. "What are you talking about? I hate being left out of things!" Hermione said exasperatedly. "Nothing!" Harry said, slapping his palm over Ron's mouth before he could say anything. "You're acting really odd," Hermione commented. "Can we talk about something else? Like about how much responsibility we'll have once we get to Hogwarts? As prefects?" she asked. Harry removed his hand from Ron's mouth. "If we have to be discussing that, Ron might as well start blabbing!" Harry exclaimed. Ron laughed so hard he choked. Soon, they arrived at King's Cross train station. Once Harry and the Weasleys had gotten their carts for the luggage, the Ministry cars drove away. They walked to the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. Harry stood behind Ron. Fred and George were going on first. They walked casually towards the barrier, and, when they should have hit the brick wall, they vanished. Harry, Ron and Hermione walked into the barrier. When they got to the other side, there was a magnificent scarlet steam engine (the Hogwarts Express) stood before them, puffing large clouds of smoke. Once they had seen that all the luggage was on the train safely, Harry went to say good- bye to everyone. "Bye, Sirius. I'll write to you!" said Harry, shaking Sirius's hand. Sirius smiled. "Behave- and don't go looking for trouble, all of you!" he said. "Trouble usually finds us first!" exclaimed Ron, Harry and Hermione in one voice. Everybody laughed. After many hugs from Mrs. Weasley, all of the students were on the train. Ginny immediatley saw the Creevey brothers (both of whom were Muggle-borns, and big fans of Harry) and her friend Marci. She joined them in one compartment. Fred and George went into a compartment with their friend Lee Jordan, so there was only one empty compartment that Harry, Ron and Hermione occupied. They had only started chatting when there was a knock at the door. Hermione answered it. "Sure! There's room!" she said to the person, stepping aside to let him or her in. And when Harry saw that him or her, he yelled, for it was a her. A blond, fair, periwinkle-eyed her. That her was Rae.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter Three  
  
Rae screamed too. "Harry! Harry Potter! I knew it, I was positive, when I saw your scar that day...." Harry jumped up and pulled her out into the corridor. He slid the compartment door shut and put his back to it so that no one would open it. "What are you doing here?" Harry asked. "I'm going to Hogwarts! What do you think, I'm just along for the ride?" Rae asked, in an extremely hostile voice. She immediately looked as though she regretted using that tone. "Sorry," she muttered. Harry nodded. "So you are a witch," he said. "And you're a wizard. The famous Harry Potter." There was a silence. Then Harry started laughing. Rae started laughing too. "We should have just told each other. Would've made things a lot easier," Harry said. Rae nodded. "I'm guessing that boy in there's Ron?" Rae asked. "Yeah. The girl's Hermione," Harry told her. Rae nodded again. "Your girlfriend?" she teased, smirking. "No, she has a boyfriend.... an eighteen-year-old guy. Viktor Krum of the Bulgaria Quidditch team," Harry said. Rae's eye's widened. "Krum? Viktor Krum? Him? Wow...but he's so much older...." "Yeah, but they really like each other." "Okay. Can we go back in now?" Rae asked. "Yeah," Harry said, sliding open the compartment door. "Ladies first," he said stepping aside to let her in. "I wish I had a dirt clod," Rae said. Harry laughed. Hermione looked confused. Ron was trying not to laugh, because he knew that this was Rae, the girl Harry liked. Harry silenced him with a look. "Rae, this is Herman and Ron. Uh, this is Rae," Harry said. "How do you know each other?" Hermione asked, confusion apparent in her voice. "Oh, I moved in across the street from his aunt and uncle's house," Rae explained. Then she told Hermione about the way they had met. Fortunately, she said nothing about them in the garage. Rae smirked at Harry, though, as if she was going to say something. He raised his eyebrow, and Ron started to snuffle with laughter again. "What is your problem, Ron?" Hermione asked. "Excuse him for a moment. Ron's going to the bathroom now, aren't you, Ron?" Harry said, sliding open the compartment door and pulling Ron out into the corridor. Ron looked at Harry, then burst out laughing, and walked down the corridor. Harry watched him go into the bathroom compartment and slid the door closed. He sat down. "What was that all about?" Rae asked. She looked as confused as Hermione.  
  
****  
  
Ron didn't come back until nearly forty-five minutes had passed. "Where were you?" asked Rae. "Uh, I stopped to chat with some friends...Neville, Dean and Seamus," Ron said, with a nod at Harry and Hermione. Harry looked at Ron, his eyes asking if he had said anything. Ron gave him a look with a smirk as though to say "maybe I did, maybe I didn't." Harry shook his head. There was a knock at the door, the sound of the door sliding open, and Rae screaming. "YOU!" she screamed, jumping up. "Oh my, god!" Malfoy and everybody else was shocked. "What the bloody hell are you doing here, you little wench?" "Don't you call me that, you-" (there was that word again) "-piece of filth!" Rae shouted. Hermione gasped and Ron lost the color in his face. Harry looked at Rae, then at Malfoy. "Rae, sit down, don't lose your temper over him, he's not-" Harry started to say. "Don't you tell me to NOT lose my temper with that little jerk!" Rae screeched. She snapped her fingers and pointed at Malfoy with her fingers in the shape of a gun. She raised her arms up quickly and Malfoy flew into midair. He started calling Rae names that even made Ron cringe. Rae just smirked. "Ha, ha. You little loser, hasn't messing with a half-elf taught you anything?" she said, laughing. "A half what!" Harry said. "Half-elf. Half witch, half elf." Rae snapped. "Now, Draco, would you like to come down?" Rae asked, in a voice that one would use to talk to an infant. Malfoy nodded, looking like he was going to cry. "You do remember what I did to you when we were kids, don't you?" Rae asked. Malfoy nodded again. "Just get me down! Please! I don't want that done to me again! Please!" Malfoy said, tears streaming down his face now. Ron was chuckling at this, forgetting what Rae had said about being a half-elf. Hermione looked shocked about everything- from Rae cursing, to knowing and hating Malfoy, to doing magic without a wand, and now that Malfoy was crying. "Moso hana cara kana qua tia flona shiano! Moso hana cara kana qua tia flona shiano!" Rae cried, her voice sounding like it was coming from times when magic folk were dominant, and she sounded much older. Hermione sank to the floor, the little color that had been in her face drained away. Ron gasped, and Harry just stared. Malfoy fell to the floor in a heap, pink and tearful. He called Rae a rude word for a female dog, and, Rae snapped her fingers warningly. Malfoy screamed in terror, thrust open the compartment door, and ran out into the corridor, still screaming bloody murder. Rae smirked, then shut her eyes. She breathed in heavily through her nose, and then sank onto her seat. Rae put her head into her hands, then, after a moment, looked up at all of them. Hermione stood up. "What," she said, out of breath, "the hell was all that about?" Ron and Harry gaped. Hermione had never cursed to their knowing. "When I was a kid, maybe about nine or ten, I went with my dad on a business trip. He worked for the Ministry of Magic in the United States," Rae said. "Let me guess," interrupted Ron. "You met the Malfoys." Rae smiled. "You guessed correct. Anyway, Lucius Malfoy would not stop looking at me. He scowled at me all the time. So I asked Draco why his father hated me so much. 'You look like a old girlfriend that he wasn't good enough for,' he told me," Rae said, shaking her head. "I guess blond and milk skinned people attract each other, because Narcissa looks that way too," Everyone else nodded. Narcissa also was blond, fair-skinned, and she also had a very high set nose. "So, I said to Draco, 'Well, I'm probably as smart as the girlfriend that your dad wasn't good enough for. I'd never be the girlfriend to someone as snooty as you and your dad!' and Malfoy tackled me. I blew him back with the elven magic in me," Harry nearly gasped for the millionth time, but he remembered Rae had already said something about being a half-elf. "Then I levitated him, and made him spin around at about 100 miles per hour while he was still in midair!" Ron started to laugh. Rae grinned, Harry shook his head, smirking, and Hermione still looked appalled. "So then I drop him on the ground, and he ran off, crying 'Daddy! Daddy! She made me fly and- blahhhhh!' He vomited!" Rae, Harry and Ron collapsed with laughter. "Wait!" Hermione said shrilly, although it was apparent she was trying not to laugh along. "You said to Malfoy that he messed with you. How did he mess with you? You seemed to have attacked him!" It was apparent that Hermione didn't really like Rae. "Hey, would you appreciate being tackled by someone? Just because you were nine and you made an innocent comment?" Rae said. Hermione scowled and looked away. Ron was still recovering from laughter. "Sorry, but I just don't appreciate people trying to hurt me. I didn't mean to sound hostile, Hermione. I just. get.so. into being mad I don't realize what I'm saying until the words are out of my mouth," Rae said. "I don't like myself when I am that way, but I can't prevent it. I swear, I must have some Dwarf in me or something. Elves don't usually get so mad like that." Harry looked at Rae curiously. She spoke of being Elvish or even a little bit Dwarvish as though this was an every day thing! "It's okay. Hey, Malfoy was turned into a ferret once." When Rae finally stopped laughing, Hermione told her the tale of the fake teacher turning Malfoy into a white ferret. Rae had to excuse herself to go to the bathroom from laughing so much. "I think I'll be a while. I want to go play with Malfoy and his friends some more, and remind Malfoy of this." she said in between laughs. She took off down the corridor. The trio that remained there looked at each other. "So," Harry said. "What do you all think of Rae?" "I like her. Anyone with a grudge against Malfoy is a friend of mine!" Ron exclaimed. "Well, she is a bit. obnoxious. Just when she's mad. And those words she used! I mean, Ron, you've called Professor Snape something like that behind his back once, but coming from a girl!" Hermione shook her head. "But I agree with Ron. Anyone who hates Malfoy might as well be a friend. Besides, I'm getting lonely being the only girl in our small group, having her around will be nice. I hope she gets sorted into Gryffindor!" Harry hadn't thought of that. "She's cunning enough," Ron said. "Yes, but the more cunning people usually get put into Slytherin," said Hermione, shaking her head. "Bravery is a Gryffindor characteristic," she said thoughtfully. Harry nodded. "Well, I haven't known her long enough to say that she's exactly brave, but I wouldn't be surprised," Harry informed them. "But the way she made Malfoy cry.now that was just plain brilliant!" at this, Ron collapsed in laughter. Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'd say Gryffindor. Rae could get in a lot of trouble for attacking Malfoy. Even if she didn't have that in mind, it was still brave," she said. The boys nodded in agreement. Harry felt a little worried. He wanted Rae to be in Gryffindor, along with himself, Ron and Hermione. She would make friends fast, no matter where she was, but it would have been very nice if she would be in Gryffindor. They were distracted for a moment by seeing Malfoy running screaming past the door, his face shining with tears of horror. Rae was close behind. They also saw Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, Malfoy's friends and bodyguards, come trodding behind, munching on Pumpkin Pasties.  
  
*** About twenty minutes later, Rae came back. She was beaming widely, her cheeks red. "Ah, that was fun! I chased Malfoy all over the train. He just knocked over a plump lady with a cart full of candy, and got into a lot of trouble with her," she informed them. Ron burst out laughing- again. "Honestly, Rae, you should take Ron along when you go beat Malfoy up so he can get all the hysteria out of him! It'd be nice if you didn't have him laughing every five minutes." Harry said. Rae giggled. Hermione rolled her eyes and smirked to herself. She looked out the window and at the sky longingly, letting out a sigh. "What is it, Hermione?" Harry asked, a little bit later. Hermione hadn't said anything for a while. "What?" Hermione snapped back to life. "You were zoning out," Rae said. "A rare sight, seeing Hermione Granger zoning out. She'd never do that, especially during History of Magic." Ron said. Hermione shook her head and rolled her eyes. "I'll tell you, Ron, before I got my first Hogwarts letter when I was eleven, I was never the good student. Muggle school bored me completely. No interesting subjects, nothing like Hogwarts. Ron, you'd never last a day in Muggle school!" She exclaimed. "The second I got my Hogwarts letter, my parents and I whisked away to London to get my books. I wanted to learn as much as possible about magic, and it was so appealing, I couldn't help but memorize all of it!" she said, smiling. "It's been a habit to read up extra information and memorize everything since!" Ron rolled his eyes. "You? Never a good student? That's hard to believe," he said. "Well, it's true!" Hermione insisted, scowling. "A bookworm, are you?" asked Rae. "Have you read Kilsh?" she said. "Yes!" Hermione said, brightening up. "It's an extraordinary book! One of my personal favorites." "What's Kilsh about?" Harry asked. "It's about a colony of wizarding folk who are faced with a fatal disease that magic seems to have no effect on," Rae said. "The main character is in love with a wizard named Anûlok, who has the disease, called Kilsh. She wants to do everything to save his life, but she doesn't know what to do. And the interesting thing is, she never reveals her name. Oh, the ending is so sad!" Hermione said, shaking her head. "I bawled after reading it!" "Uh-huh. I felt so bad for her!" Rae said. "What happens?" Ron asked. "I don't read, so I want to know!" "Well, the boy, Anûlok, is on his deathbed. The girl is by his side, holding his hand. She has loved him, and cared for him. She knows he may die, and no one knows how you get he disease. See, it's based back in ancient times," Rae said. "Anyway, she loves Anûlok so much, that if she gets the disease from him, she wants to die and go to heaven with him. Nobody but her goes near him. Finally, he's dying. The girl is by his bed, and she's crying her eyes out. Then, he brings her close, and she lays in the bed with him. They snog off (ugh, the description made me sick), then, Anûlok says, 'I love you,-' and before he can say her name, he's gone." Rae sighed. "It's so beautiful. I love it. It's my favorite book, Kilsh." Harry looked at her eyes. They were red by her bottom eyelids, like someone had painted a red line there. "Rae, there's something funky going on with your eyes," Harry alerted her. "What? Oh no!" Rae ran out the door. "Oh, my, sorry, ma'am!" they heard her say a few seconds later. A plump witch pushing a cart of candy and snacks walked in. "My goodness, kids running into me left and right today, I swear." she was mumbling. "Anything for you?" the witch asked. They all bought some candy, with a little extra each to give to Rae. "Thank you, ma'am," said Hermione. The witch nodded, and plodded out of the compartment.  
  
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Rae came back ten minutes later. "What was wrong?" Hermione asked. "Oh, I um, thought I may have, uh. popped a blood vessel. Yeah. I uh, have done that several times before." Rae muttered. Harry and Ron raised their eyebrows at each other. "Okay, then. Every Flavor Bean?" Ron said, offering her a handful of the jellybeans. "What?" Rae looked confused. "A Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean," Harry said. "You have heard of them, haven't you?" "No, I haven't," Rae said. "They look like jelly beans." "They are, but they come in every flavor, of anything!" Harry said. "Like, you think you're going to eat a strawberry flavored one, but it turns out to be. oh, I dunno." "Cherry?" Rae suggested. The other three laughed. "No, something you wouldn't expect. umm." Harry couldn't think of anything. "Tomato!" Hermione said. "Yes!" Harry said, at the same time Rae squealed "Eww!" "And you can get tripe, sardine, pepper." Ron started listing all the flavors he could remember. Rae got a look on her face that clearly said she was going to be adventurous and try some. "Oooh, I think I'll have.this one!" she said, picking up a green one. She popped it into her mouth, chewed it, then immediately spit it out. "Yeccch! That tasted like beer!" She made a face. "We didn't have those in America."  
  
"Whaa did ju 'ave nn Umwerica?" asked Ron, his mouth full of a Pumpkin Pastie. Rae smiled. "Oh, we had those Chocolate Frogs," Rae said, gesturing to the small pile of them that Ron had next to him. "But we had Bouncers, Gouapples, Carmellies, and Gummy Bunnies," Rae licked her lips. "Mmm, I miss them," she said. "Whats and whats and whats?" Ron asked. "Oh! Bouncers were bite-sized nougat and caramels, covered in chocolate. When you took them out of the wrappers, they bounced around and you had to capture them in your mouth! If you grabbed them with your hands, they'd melt," Rae said. "I remember once, in History of Magic, we had a substitute professor. It was going to be a boring lesson, as we were learning about the various ways of waving the wands.this was in my first year. A bunch of boys brought about six bags of Bouncers and set them loose. They kept putting them in the desk drawers, and then, when we were supposed to be doing a paper, they opened the drawers, and the Bouncers went flying all over the classroom! The professor had goo all over his hands, he was so old that he forgot that they melt instantly in your hands!" Rae smiled and giggled at the memory. She told them about Gouapples, which were apples covered in a goulash-flavored sauce. Everyone else thought this was disgusting, but Rae said it actually was quite good. They were homemade candies, so she promised to try and make some for them. And Carmellies sounded just as fun as the Bouncers. They were little chocolate candies covered with a hard caramel shell that you had to try and break, and when you broke it, the chocolate would turn into bubbles. Some force attracted the bubbles to your face, and they would slip through your lips if they were closed, and re-inflate inside your mouth. If you weren't careful, and you didn't pop and snap it inside your mouth, the bubbles would get so big that it would go up your throat and into your nose, then drip out your nostrils. As for Gummy Bunnies, they were, well, gummy bunnies, but bigger than most human heads. They were also alive, so if you tried to eat it, it would cry.  
  
"Not many people eat them because the cry makes you feel like you're killing a rabbit," Rae said. "Some rude boys at school would nibble at the bunnies during Potions and blame it on the substance they were making." She shook her head. "I've never eaten one." Hermione looked appalled. "Then why do they make them still?" she asked. "Well, when I left, there was a boycott starting up against the candy companies," Rae said. "Animal lovers, mostly."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter Four  
  
  
  
. Soon, the train pulled up to the station at Hogwarts. Once they were outside of the train, Rae looked around, nervous. "I don't know where to go! I think I am supposed to go with you, but I wonder if I should go somewhere else," she said. "Hang on," Harry said. He bolted over to Hagrid, who was waiting by the lake with a small fleet of boats to take the first years in. "Hagrid, I have a friend who is just starting this year," Harry said. "Well, tell 'em to come over 'ere," Hagrid said, chuckling. "Well, see, she moved here from America, and went to a wizarding school as well. She's fifteen, so she should be in fifth year, I think," Harry said. "Oh, Desirae?" Hagrid asked. "Yeah, Dumbledore told us staff 'bout her. She's to go with the older students. Uh, I think she's getting Sorted first, so go straight to McGonagall, tell her that it's Desirae, and she'll take her up to her office and Sort her there, then bring her down to the feast," Hagrid said. "Oh, thanks! See you at the feast!" Harry waved and ran back. "Okay, Rae, you go with us, you get Sorted separately," he said. They all got into the horseless coaches that awaited them, and in five minutes' time, were on their way up to the castle. "How do they Sort us into the houses?" Rae asked. "Oh, you just put on an enchanted hat. It's probably a thousand years old," Hermione said. "Wow," said Rae. "The Sorting Hat sings a song about all the houses, then the first years put it on, one by one, and it basically lists all your qualities to you, and then, it shouts out your house name," Ron explained. "What houses are you in?" Rae asked. "Gryffindor," they said in one voice. Rae sighed. "Well, I hope I get Sorted there," she said. "Don't worry, you should be. Brave, intelligent, caring people get in there. Makes you wonder why Malfoy was put in Slytherin," Harry said sarcastically. Everyone else laughed. "Oh, so I'm brave, intelligent and caring?" Rae said, smiling. Harry looked out the carriage window. Rae had the same look on her face as she did that day in the garage. It seemed apparent that she knew Harry didn't want to risk the chance of something happening. Rae looked down and bit her lip. She knew that what she had just said probably wasn't the best thing to say around Ron and Hermione. For the rest of the ride, everyone was silent. Once they got up to the castle and outside the Great Hall, they stopped. Professor McGonagall was waiting there. "Hello, Potter, Granger, Weasley," she said. "Hello, Professor. Did you have a nice summer?" Hermione asked. "Well, it was hectic, but when I had time to rest, yes. I did, thank you for asking. Ah, you must be Desirae!" said Professor McGonagall. "Yes, I am. Please, call me Rae," Rae said. "Oh, of course dear. Now, let's get to my office, and you will be sorted. I'm assuming you four are all friends, so why don't you three come as well?" said Professor McGonagall. They all nodded, and followed their elder to her office. Rae sat on a chair, and Professor McGonagall stood in front of her desk. A minute later, an elderly highly regarded wizard walked into the office. His extremely long beard and hair were pure white, and behind half-moon glasses were a pair of twinkling eyes. The wizard was Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts. "Ah, hello, there, Harry, Ronald, Hermione! Have a nice summer?" Dumbledore asked. "Oh yes," said Hermione. "Visited Bulgaria for about a month." Ron and Harry gave each other knowing looks. Viktor Krum lived in Bulgaria. Dumbledore winked at the boys, smiling. "How about you two?" he asked. "Oh, it was fine. I moved in with Sirius," Harry said. "Ah, yes! He told me he had invited you. Well, Mr. Weasley, your summer?" Dumbledore asked. "Oh, it was alright. Not too much going on. But Harry's new home is quite near mine," Ron said. "That's wonderful. Oh, this is Miss Rae, I presume?" Dumbledore asked Professor McGonagall. "I suppose your summer was alright, as well?" he asked Rae. His voice was a bit serious, though. Rae gulped and looked down. "Yes. I um, live with my grandparents. Across the street from Harry's awful relations. I tell you, Harry, they threw a big party after you left. they actually let Dudley get drunk!" Rae cheered up a bit. Harry and everyone else laughed. "Well, let's get on with the Sorting," said McGonagall. "Yes, let's," Dumbledore agreed. He pulled the ragged old Sorting Hat from his cloak, and set it on Rae's head gently. The hat remained motionless, but they all knew that a small voice was talking to Rae, telling her all her qualities. At one point of the ten minutes it took, Rae had her eyes tightly shut. She was biting her lower lip as well. Finally, the hat moved. A rip near the brim opened wide. "GRYFFINDOR!" Rae's eyes flew open, and her face split into a grin. She removed the hat, gave it to Dumbledore, and hugged Harry and Ron, and squealed along with Hermione, "Yes!" "Well, a bright new Gryffindor student. I am your Head of House, Miss Rae. Come along, let's get to the Great Hall," McGonagall said. They all followed her to the Great Hall. Once inside the Hall, they all sat down at the Gryffindor table. All the people that didn't know who she was kept staring at her. Harry heard Lee Jordan whisper "I saw her chasing Draco Malfoy up and down the corridors on the train. Malfoy looked like he had a stampede of insulted hippogriffs after him!" Harry and Hermione laughed. "Well, he certainly had someone as crazy as that chasing him!" Ron said, guffawing. Rae gave him a slight slap on the arm, smiling. "Malfoy is terrified of me," she said proudly. "He thinks I'll put some sort of curse on him to make him vomit slugs." Everyone who heard her say that but herself and Ron laughed. In their second year, Ron had tried to do that exact spell on Malfoy. Unfortunately for Ron, his wand was broken and malfunctioning at the time, so he ended up the one vomiting slugs. Hermione explained this to Rae and she covered her mouth, trying not to laugh. "Sorry, Ron!" Rae exclaimed. "I had no idea." Ron smiled. "It's okay. Actually, it is kinda funny, looking back on it now." The Gryffindors erupted with laughter. A delicate clinking sound twinkled its way through the ears of the students, calling them all to attention. They looked to the Head Table to see Professor Dumbledore gently tapping a golden spoon to his crystal goblet. The hall grew silent within seconds. "Ahem," he began. "First, I would like to welcome all of our students, old and new, back to Hogwarts." The students and staff clapped. "Second, I would like to welcome our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Moody, to Hogwarts as well. I assume you have all heard of the impostor we had last year, so please welcome the real Professor to the castle." Everyone clapped hard. Moody looked around, smiling. He waved to every table but Slytherin. Harry hoped that Barty Crouch Jr., the impostor, had been teaching the classes the way the real Moody would have. If Crouch hadn't been planning an evil plot involving Voldemort, and he hadn't gone to Azkaban, he would have made a good teacher. "Also, please note that the Forest surrounding the grounds is forbidden-" many of the students knew this, although a few fifth years had been in it once or twice "- no magic may be used in the corridors between classes, and, most of all, let us eat!" Dumbledore clapped his hands once, and the empty plates filled with food. Soon, Rae had been introduced to everyone, and they all seemed to like her. Rae was very animated, and the Weasley twins were delighted to hear of her tales or terrorizing Malfoy. Rae kept looking behind her and staring at Malfoy. He would meet her gaze for a few seconds, then look down at his food. The third time Rae did this, she smirked widely. "Malfoy has detention," she sang in a tattletale voice. "Ooh! How did he get it?" asked Hermione. "When I was chasing after him down the corridor of the train, he ran into the candy witch," Rae said. "She yelled at him, 'You just wait until Professor Dumbledore hears about this! I will also make sure that your Head of House- ah, you're a Slytherin, eh? Well, I'll make sure you get a detention from Professor Snape!'" Everyone listening that knew of Malfoy's slimy ways burst out laughing. Rae looked down, smiling at her spaghetti. "He earned it." Ginny and Rae became fast friends. They were laughing constantly, and whispering in each other's ears. Hermione joined in this also. The three of them were extremely giddy after a while, and it annoyed the boys greatly. "Hey, Rae," said Fred, trying to steer her away from the giddiness that was bothering him so. "You good at Quidditch?" "Mmm-hmm! I was the Keeper at my old school," Rae said. "Great! You can try out to be Keeper for Gryffindor! We need one, now that Wood's left," George said. The other members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team (Alicia Spinnet, Katie Bell, and Angelina Johnson) looked over at Rae. They smiled at her approvingly. "And captain," said Harry. "Oh, Harry," said the entire Quidditch team, Hermione, Ginny, Ron, and Rae in one voice. They all had disapproving looks. "You'd be a great captain, Harry!" Rae said. "Better than me." "No, I don't really want to," Harry said. He knew that he was "popular," so this would make him feel more looked upon, although it was probably in high regard. "I mean, the pressure, and I just couldn't." "Yes, you could!" said Katie, Angelina, and Alicia in unison. "C'mon, Harry!" Ron said. "If you can be the youngest wizard to compete in the Triwizard Tournament, and win, and survive blasts from." Ron trailed off. He didn't want to remind Harry of Voldemort. "I know, Ron. I guess.it's just that, well." Harry didn't know how to put it. Rae looked at him sincerely. "So, you think that because you're 'The Boy Who Lived' and everyone knows you already, you just couldn't handle anymore pressure and-" "More Creevey types!" Hermione said, cutting off Rae. The Creevey brothers looked at Hermione, scowling. "Sorry, but, well, you um, tend to, well." Hermione stuttered, trying not to laugh. "Obsess over Harry?" Ron helped. Rae smiled, getting the joke. "Kind of," said Hermione. The Creeveys looked at each other, and then they laughed with everyone else. It was true, both brothers tended to be obsessive about Harry because he was famous. "Well, now I can't keep a secret from you three," Harry said, pointing to Rae, Ron and Hermione. "As you can read my mind." Everyone burst out laughing. "It's Rae you really have to worry about," said Ron. "She reads your mind, then us two kinda finish her reading!" Hermione added. Rae smirked in that way again, looking at her spaghetti again. She toyed with her fork. The smile disappeared soon. Nobody really noticed, but then Harry didn't hear her laugh or inputs. "Rae, are you alright?" Harry asked. Rae looked up. Her eyes had the red line again. Harry frowned. "Why do your eyes do that thing?" "What thing?" Rae asked, puzzled. Then she jumped up as if someone had branded her with a Flame Charm. "Gotta go to the bathroom, be right back." She ran out of the Great Hall. Harry looked at Ron and Hermione. All their facial expressions read, "What is her problem?"  
  
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Rae came back when the desserts appeared on the serving plates. She had her trademark smirk on her face again. "Sorry about that," Rae said. "My eyes do that a lot, and I forget that it happens to some elves. Must have inherited it from my mother's side." "Some elves?" asked Alicia. "You're an elf?" "Not wholly," Rae responded. "My mom was an elf, my dad was a wizard, and here I am, their offspring half-elf." Everyone that didn't know this let their jaws drop. "I know, it's not common." Fred and George nodded, their eyes wide. Rae sighed, smiling. "Well, then, think about my fights with Malfoy, it should be apparent why I always win, and why she's terrified of me." The students laughed. Harry knew now that he liked her, definitely. "Hey Rae, you said 'she', not 'he'." Ron pointed out. "I know, that's my point," Rae said. The Gryffindors burst out laughing. Harry really knew he liked Rae.  
  
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Once the feast was over, Harry, Hermione, Dean Thomas and Parvati Patil (all of them being the new prefects) led all the Gryffindor students up some of the many staircases of Hogwarts to a portrait. The painting depicted a large woman. She remained motionless for a minute. "Password?" she asked Parvati. "Alsam una," replied Parvati. "Alicia told me, she's Head Girl this year," she told Harry, Dean, and Hermione. The Fat Lady smiled, and the portrait swung open to reveal a hole big enough for a person to walk through. "Watch your heads," Hermione warned the first years. They all ducked down, and walked into the Gryffindor common room. The first years gaped at it, amazed by the huge room, the comfortable chairs and couches, and the enormous fireplace, with a fire cracking in it. Parvati, Dean, and Hermione looked at Harry. He knew that he was going to have to talk to the first years. "Uh.welcome to the Gryffindor common room. This is where you'll be spending your evenings before bed," Harry felt extremely stupid. He looked at Hermione with pleading eyes. She sighed. "Since one of your male prefects is so stupid," Hermione said, bringing chuckles to the first years, "you might not want to listen to him. But he was right. You will spend most of your evenings here in the common room, and you may study or play games with your friends if you wish." She looked at Parvati, who continued. "Girls, your dormitories are up these stairs and to your right, boys, the same on the left. Your luggage will have been taken up already. Follow me." The girls all followed Parvati and Hermione up the staircase, and the boys went up and to the left. Harry and Dean led the boys to two rooms, both labeled First Years. One room had five beds, the other four. This was just as well, because there were nine boys. "Uh. four of you in here, five in here," said Harry. Five of the boys scurried into the one on the right, while the rest filed in to the room on the left. Dean walked in after the four boys, so that left Harry with the other five. He walked in. "I can't find me bags!" exclaimed Jesse. "They're supposed to be right here, but they be no where in me sight!" "Oh, ME can't find ME bags either! ME stuff! Oh, poor ME!" said another boy named Christopher, mocking Jesse. The other boys chuckled. "Hey!" Jesse leaped on Christopher. He started to fight back. They both had their wands out, but as they knew no magic, all they were doing was hitting and trying to poke each other's eyes out. Beams of light flew out of the wands from being thrown around so, one nearly hitting someone's barn owl. "Break it up! Expelliarmus!" Harry pulled out his wand and pointed it at the boys, crying out a Disarming Spell. They flew apart with a bang! both looking shocked. The spell also made the wands fly to Harry. He honestly didn't expect them to disassemble, as the spell he just used was really meant to disarm another wizard of his wand. "There's your first hands-on magic demo. Now knock it off! I'm going to look for Jesse's luggage. I better not hear any more fights!" Harry looked around at all the stunned faces, then went out of the room. As he turned to go into the other room, he fell backwards because he had knocked into Dean. "What is going on over there?" Dean asked, getting back to his feet. "Two of the boys were trying to murder each other," Harry said as Dean helped him up. "I had to get them apart." "Did you use a Disarming Spell?" Dean asked. Harry nodded. "They're fine, just surprised. I don't think the spell hurt them, but they did fly apart-" "They flew apart?" Dean's eyes grew wide. "Yeah. I guess since I pointed my wand at both of them, they were separated, along with their wands," Harry showed Dean the other two wands in his hand. "I don't think they'll be trying that again." "What is going on down here?" Hermione's bossy voice came from behind. Harry turned around to see Hermione and Parvati coming down the hall, with extremely disapproving looks on their faces. "Harry, why do you have three wands?" Harry explained what happened. When he told the girls that Jesse and Christopher had flown apart, Hermione almost screamed. "Do you realize you could have really hurt them? Wait until Professor McGonagall hears about this, really, Harry, you should have come to a pre-" "Hermione, I am a prefect," Harry said. Hermione looked down. "Oh, that's right. Sorry, I guess we'll just have to get used to this," she said. Everyone laughed. "It's okay," Harry said. "But I think that two of our first years may need a detention for fighting," he said, raising his voice. Jesse and Christopher ran out of the room. "Please, Mr. Potter, please don't give me detention on me first day! Me mum will have a fit!" Jesse pleaded. "Ah, shut up, you Irish loser," Christopher said. "Please, not me! He attacked me! Don't give me detention! My dad will send me a Howler!" Christopher cried, getting down on his knees. Jesse was about to jump on Christopher again, when Hermione cried "Petrificus Totalus!" and Jesse froze in midair. Harry grabbed him and pulled him away from Christopher. Parvati unfroze Jesse, who immediately tried to run and tackle Christopher again, but Harry and Dean grabbed him by the shoulders and held him back. "Well, we can tell what room arrangement's won't work," said Parvati. At that moment, a small, mousy-haired boy walked out of the room Dean was in, and timidly approached Hermione. "Excuse me, Miss," he said in a small voice. "I can't find my luggage." Hermione nodded. "Harry, take these two articles to Professor McGonagall. We'll stay here and find his luggage," Hermione said. "This kid's stuff is lost, too, so you might want to find it," Harry said, motioning to Jesse. "C'mon, you," he pointed at Christopher with his wand. Christopher scrambled up and stood next to Harry. Jesse tried to break free of Harry to get to Chris. "Chris, run down the stairs and wait by the portrait hole. I think that Jesse needs to be levitated in order to keep him from you." Hermione looked at Harry with her eyebrow raised. Chris ran down the stairs. Harry let go of Jesse, who tried to run after Chris. But Harry was too quick. "Wingardium Leviosa!" he cried, pointing his wand at Jesse. Jesse floated in midair. He looked surprised by having a third spell put on him in ten minutes. Harry walked down the stairs, with Jesse floating in front of him. When Harry and Jesse got to the portrait hole, it was apparent that Chris was trying not to laugh. Harry motioned for Chris to push open the portrait hole, and he did so. They walked down the hall. Chris snuffled with laughter, while Jesse tried to get down to get at Chris. "POTTER! What do you think you're doing!" the oily voice of the teacher Harry hated the most sounded throughout the corridor. When he turned around, sure enough, it was Professor Snape. Harry still kept Jesse floating. He had stopped trying to get out of the air. "Why are you levitating him?" Snape asked nastily. "To prevent him from attacking Chris, sir," Harry responded. He longed to snap at Snape with sarcasm, but that would anger him more. "They were fist fighting in the dormitories and I was taking them to Professor McGonagall's office." "What gives you the right to do this, Potter?" Snape said. Before Harry could say he was a prefect, Snape said "I should take away points for taking charge when you're not a prefect." "Ah, but Severus, he is," a gruff voice said. Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. Harry recognized the sound of a peg leg hitting the stone floor. Sure enough, it was Professor Moody. The peg leg was only one of the things that made him stand out. His facial features truly made him stand out. Moody's former job, an Auror, put him in the light of many risks, as he was to fight dark wizards. He had many scars to prove it, along with a chunk of his nose missing. But his eyes were what attracted attention to most people. He had a normal, brown eye, but the other was large, and the iris was an electrical blue. The blue eye had the power to see through almost anything, even what was lurking under an invisibility cloak, as Harry had found out from experience. It also moved in every direction constantly, which made it even more freakish. Chris and Jesse stared at Moody in horror. They hadn't seen him up close. Harry knew that he had only known the impostor Moody, but even so, he felt like a favorite professor was in his presence again. "What?" Snape asked. He looked appalled. "I said, he is a prefect. Didn't anyone tell you?" Moody said to Snape. Snape looked at Moody poisonously, and shook his head no. "Well, then, I suppose you should look at the list of new prefects in the staff room. Might give you a tip." Snape scowled, then walked away. Harry looked at Jesse. "Can I let you down now, Jesse?" he asked. Jesse nodded. Harry slowly bought him down to the floor. Chris stood transfixed. Jesse stayed on the other side of Harry, who attempted a feeble smile at his professor, who gave a smirk back. "Hello, Mr. Potter. We meet at last," Moody strode over to Harry and shook his hand. "So, what have these two done?" "Well, sir, they got into a bit of a riot," Harry informed Moody. "Fist fighting. I was taking them to see Professor McGonagall, as she's our Head of House." "Why, then, were you levitating Jesse?" Moody asked. Jesse's eyes grew wide in wonder. It was obvious that he was shocked that Moody knew his name already. "He, well, wouldn't stop trying to attack Christopher." "Ahh. Well, I'll walk you down. With Voldemort back in power, you never know when he'll get brave enough to lurk into Hogwarts," Moody said. Christopher's face turned white. Not many people that knew of Voldemort spoke his name, as even it was feared. They all walked down the corridor and into the Transfiguration classroom. Harry knocked on McGonagall's office door. She opened it. "Why, Mr. Potter! Professor Moody! What brings you here?" Professor McGonagall asked. "These two," said Harry, motioning to Chris and Jesse. "Ah, well. You get back to Gryffindor Tower, and I'll deal with them," McGonagall said. Harry nodded, then looked at the two first years piercingly. They looked at him with their eyes wide, then they scurried into the office, shutting the door behind them. As Harry and Moody walked out of the classroom, they heard Jesse and Chris shouting that it was the other's fault. Harry looked down, shaking his head. "My goodness," said Moody. They walked to the hallway where the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom was. "See you at class," Moody said. Harry nodded and walked to Gryffindor Tower. "Alsam una," Harry muttered to the Fat Lady. The portrait door swung open, and he walked inside to find Rae, Hermione and Ron waiting for him on the couch in front of the fireplace. "Finally, Harry!" Rae said. "Sit down, why don't you?" Harry sat down in between Ron and Rae. He noticed that Rae was snuggled up in the corner of the couch, with a steaming mug in her hands. "Coca?" she asked. Before Harry could answer, she pulled her left middle finger with her right hand, which made a cracking sound. A mug of hot chocolate sat at Harry's feet. He picked it up and carefully took a sip, as it was very hot. Harry had almost forgotten Rae was a half-elf. "These two bums don't want any," Rae said. Hermione gave a little chuckle. Ron didn't look like he really appreciated being called a bum, as he wasn't exactly rich. Rae looked at him apologetically. Ron smiled back at her. They all sat there, staring at the fire. It crackled and popped loudly. Rae sighed. "I miss my parents," she said quietly. The three others looked at her. Hermione bit her lip. They all waited for her to cry, but the tears didn't come. Harry put his hand on Rae's. She looked at him in "that way" again. Rae blinked, shutting her eyes tightly. She took in a deep breath, then stood up. "Good night. See you all at breakfast," Rae said. She walked up the spiral staircase to the girl's dormitories. The three that remained sat there and looked at each other. "Why doesn't she write a letter home?" Hermione asked in a low voice. "They died this summer," Ron said. Harry stared into the fire. He heard Hermione gasp. "Oh," she said. "No wonder she looked at you like that, Harry." Harry looked at Hermione and Ron. "I think Rae had the right idea. I'm going to bed," Ron told them, yawning. "I'm going to wait here for the two boys. They should be back soon," Hermione said. Harry nodded. "I'll come up in a bit, Ron. I don't feel quite tired yet," he said. Ron nodded, smiling. "Now, you two behave, or I'll tell Viktor on you, Hermione," Ron teased. They all laughed. "Don't worry, we will," Harry said. Ron smiled, then walked up the staircase to the dormitories. Harry and Hermione sat in silence for a while. The fire continued to snap and pop. Harry's thoughts flew around his brain. He felt like his mind was playing Quidditch. His feelings for Rae were the most important thoughts, so they formed the Snitch. The responsibility of being a prefect and how Rae's eyes would get that red line represented the Bludgers. They were just there to interfere with the game. And the Quaffle was shown by Voldemort lurking out there, planning to take revenge on Harry. This felt important, but not as important at the moment as his feelings for Rae. And the players on the broomsticks were all Harry. Six Harrys flying around, chasing whatever they were supposed to. "So, did you ever get the luggage back to the rightful owners?" Harry asked Hermione. He was tired of playing Mind Quidditch. "Oh, yes. Jesse's stuff was in Jason's room, and vice versa," Hermione said. "Jason was the other first year?" Harry asked. Hermione nodded. "We decided that since Jesse and Christopher would be problematic in the same dorm room, we left the luggage where it was. But the boys that now share a room with Jason seem to think he's fresh meat, since he's so little," Hermione said. "They kept looking at him, them smirking at each other. I hope we don't have any problems." Harry agreed. "Yeah. Imagine how that would be." Harry felt that his brain wanted to go and play more Mind Quidditch, but he somehow kept himself in the present. After about twenty minutes of silence, there was a sound of scuffling outside the portrait hole. Harry got up and walked through the hole. He listened to make sure it was Jesse and Chris. "It's asylum uno, you stupid git." "No, it's Una sumo! And don't you call me a stupid git, you stupid git!" Harry opened the door. "It's Alsam una, you two stupid gits," he said sarcastically. "Next time you fight over the password, do it somewhere over there away from the Fat Lady's portrait- and do it quietly! We don't want people from other houses knowing where our dormitories are and what the password is! Now come on." He stepped to the side and let the two boys in. Hermione looked at them, a small frown on her face. "Ooh, what were two prefects doing down here all alone?" Jesse teased. "Waiting for you two to come back," Hermione said. It seemed apparent that she was not pleased with what Jesse had said. "Yeah. A perfect excuse to sit by the nice cozy fire and have a snog fest! So, didja have fun?" Chris asked in a slick voice. "Yes, we did. Loads of it. Now get to bed, it's late and we all have classes tomorrow," Harry said, using his trait of sarcasm. Jesse and Chris snickered, and Harry whipped out his wand. The two boys became white, and fled up the stairs to their dormitories, slamming the doors. Hermione chuckled. "Harry, you have a way with the first years." "I know I do. Thanks." They quietly walked up the stairs, said goodnight, and went their separate ways to the dorm rooms.  
  
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Harry woke up the next morning at seven. He usually got up at eight, eight thirty if it was a late night like last night. Harry had stayed up until two in the morning playing Mind Quidditch. He still hadn't caught the Snitch, or scored points, or hit any Bludgers. The Keeper guarding his goal always blocked him from getting the Quaffle through any other the three rings. The Snitch was too fast, and the Bludgers kept hitting himself before he could hit them away. Harry had a rising feeling that he would be playing Mind Quidditch for a long time to come. He sat up in his bed and put on his glasses. Everyone- Ron, Seamus, Dean, and a clumsy, but very kind-hearted boy named Neville Longbottom- were all asleep. Harry sighed and got up. He put on his night robe on over his boxers and walked out of the room. "Lumos," Harry said. The tip of his wand lit up and served as a flashlight. As Harry walked to the prefects' bathroom to take a shower, he had a feeling that someone was there. He felt a bit paranoid, because when he turned around to see if anyone was behind him, no one was there. But Harry was sure that someone was following him. "Hello?" he whispered. Like he had expected, nobody answered. With a sigh, Harry left the tower. He walked up a staircase to a statue of a wizard with his gloves on the wrong hands- Boris the Bewildered. "Mountain spring," Harry whispered, and the statue moved. Inside was a magnificent bathroom. The bathtub was the size of a swimming pool, and there were many, many taps that poured out bubbles of all scents and shapes. Harry knew this because he had been in this bathroom in his previous year- he had taken advice from Cedric to put a clue (a golden egg that screamed if you opened it) to the Triwizard Tournament under the water. Cedric had suggested the prefect bathroom and given Harry the password, and Harry had done so. "Morning, Potter," snarled a cold, drawling voice. Malfoy was in the bathtub. Harry glared at him. "What's so good about it, ferret?" Harry said. Draco narrowed his eyes, a pink tinge appearing at his cheeks. "Nothing. Oh, and would you mind warning your elfblood friend that she'd better watch her back," Malfoy snarled. "Is elfblood an equivalent to Mu-" Harry couldn't bring himself to say the word "Mudblood", which was an extremely offensive insult to a witch or wizard with Muggle parents- like Hermione. Draco snorted. "Can't say it, Potter? Mudblood. It's just a word." "Yeah, well, my mother was Muggle-born, plus Hermione is too. You, on the other hand, are a Daddy's little rich boy with no shameful Muggle blood in him. You're a worthless slimeball, Malfoy." Harry knew that the three sentences he had said really didn't tie in, but he had made a point and insulted Malfoy. That was all that mattered. Malfoy chuckled. "Potter, you're hopeless. And no, elfblood is not an insult to half-elves. It's just a term." Harry sighed. He walked over to the shower room and hung up his robe. Stepping in the shower, he shut the door and took off his boxers and turned on the water. It was cold, but it felt refreshing to Harry. He put his glasses on the little shelf where the soap was. Harry let the water beat down on his body until it warmed up. Then, he picked up a shampoo bottle. As he was about to squirt it on his hand, he noticed the label was black. The brand Hogwarts had was labeled in purple. He put on his glasses and saw that it was hair removal cream. "Very funny, Malfoy. Nice try," Harry called out. There was no answer, just a peculiar dripping sound. He turned off the water, got out of the shower and tied a towel around his waist. When Harry looked at he bathtub, it was still full, but there was no one in it. Unless, of course, Malfoy had ducked under the water. The dripping noise grew louder. Harry turned around. He felt all alone, but yet he felt someone was there at the same time. A panic arose in his mind. What if Voldemort was here, waiting to strike? Yes, that would be perfect for him. Voldemort would kill Harry on his first day back in classes. It would be sweet revenge. Or was paranoia getting the best of Harry? He stood on the spot transfixed, not knowing what to do. Then, he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Ahhhhhhhhhh!" Harry screamed, whipping around. A high-pitched shriek answered him. Harry saw Hermione standing there, looking terrified. She was wearing a towel around her whole body, and her hair was wet. "Harry, are you okay?" Hermione's horrified look changed to worry. "Yeah. I'm fine." But Harry wasn't fine. He was frightened, and Hermione sensed it. "No, you're not fine. Something's bothering you, isn't it?" she asked. "Yes, actually, something is. My hygiene. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to finish my shower." Harry walked to a different shower stall, leaving Hermione there, confused.  
  
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Later, at breakfast, Harry couldn't eat. His food sat there, growing cold. "Harry?" he jumped. It was just Rae. She looked surprised. "Are you-" "Yes, I'm fine!" Harry snapped. Rae bit her lower lip. "Sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me." "It's okay." But it wasn't okay. He had to snap out of it. "Hermione, I'm sorry about this morning. I just-" "It's fine, Harry. Don't worry about it." Hermione said gently. Ron looked confused. "What happened? Were you two-" "NO!" Harry and Hermione shouted together. Half of the hall looked at them, then continued chatting. Ron looked blown away. "Hermione just- surprised me in the prefect bathroom this morning," Harry said. "Oh, Hermione flashed you?" Rae teased. "You're a naughty girl, Hermione." "No! I didn't know she was there, and she put her hand on my shoulder and startled me," Harry said. "Startled you? I should say not! You nearly jumped through the ceiling, Harry! You're getting paranoid," Hermione said. They looked at Harry. "I'm not. I'm fine. I'm just jumpy." That wasn't exactly the right thing to say. "Why are you jumpy? C'mon, Harry, you're stronger than this. Don't take any offense, but you've been through worse things than first days at Hogwarts. Even though you're a prefect, it shouldn't make you so nervous. Heck, even Neville looks more confident, and he isn't even a prefect! You're a mess." Ron was right. Harry pushed his scrambled eggs around his plate with a fork. "Harry, you aren't eating. You're extremely jumpy. Something is wrong. You'd better tell us, before we all figure it out." Rae sounded a bit hostile. Her expression was stone set. She looked like she wasn't going to smile or be happy until Harry told them what was wrong. Harry looked at Rae. He sighed. "I dunno. I know something is wrong, but I just can't put my finger on it. Hermione's right. I think I'm getting paranoid." The other three were silent. "It's Voldemort, isn't it?" Rae asked quietly. Ron winced, as many wizards did when Voldemort's name was mentioned. Harry nodded. "Oh, Harry." Rae put her arms around Harry. "Don't worry. He's not coming." "What are you going on about?" Harry was confused. "Listen." Rae sat up again, letting Harry out of her embrace. "I know what you've been through. And now that he's back in power, you're getting more and more paranoid. Don't let him do this to you. He's sending you these sudden strikes of paranoia that he's coming for you. Fight it. Don't let him do it." Harry suddenly noticed Rae's lips weren't moving. She was talking to him telepathically.  
  
  
  
So how do you ppl like my fic? It's my first one ever!!!! I hope it's good. next chapters coming soon to a computer near you!!!! 


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